Elder Clan Adventures
by ImJessieTR
Summary: Red Fraggle had a favorite adventure series: the Elder Clan Adventures. This is the story of Princess Gwenalot, which takes place in 1511AD.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: I don't own Fraggles, not even this story, which is based on Red's favorite adventure series, The Elder Clan Adventures. First mentioned in **_**Cave of One's Own**_** (though the Princess's name was slightly different than subsequent mentions), it's also mentioned in **_**Red's Blue Dragon**_** and the costume at least is seen in **_**Ring Around the Rock**_**. I'll try REAL hard not to have original characters … hopefully I can dig up enough ancient Fraggles to flesh out the story. :D**

_Prologue_

The Princess brushed her long blonde hair, noting with satisfaction the bright red highlights that accentuated her dark golden fur. She stared at the mirror.

"_You_ seem awfully content this morning," said the mirror, which was topped with an enchanted bronze face and spoke with a prim and proper female voice.

The Princess nodded, her voice filled with enthusiasm. "I just can't _wait_ to get started today!" she exclaimed with a large grin. "I'll crack that blue rock if it's the last thing I do."

"But it could take _days_ to get there!" the mirror protested. "Who will polish me?"

"Oh, Crooner is supposed to stop by today. I'll ask him."

The mirror lowered her eyelids and stared at the Princess in disbelief. "You'd ask a sacred Minstrel to take care of me?"

"Well," the Princess replied with a little hesitation, "he _said_ he wanted to help." The Princess placed a silvery metal helmet on her head and draped herself in a magical dark blue cape. She turned to the mirror that was roughly a foot-and-a-half taller than she was, and she was only two-and-a-half feet tall. "Well, what do you think?"

"I can see you," the mirror replied dryly.

The Princess moaned. "I _know_ you can see me, you know. I'm not _trying_ to be invisible yet!"

The mirror sighed. "Well, good luck, Gwen," she said sadly.

The Princess's face drooped in sadness, her long golden tail drooping. She patted the mirror on the back. "I'll be back … don't worry!" She smiled just as she approached the door to her cave. She turned and smiled, her tail flicking up and down. "I don't fear anything! I'm a shoe-in to crack the blue rock!"

Princess Gwen scampered down the long tunnels, dodging left and right, flicking away spiderflies with a long stick she just happened upon. She started to sing a rousing marching song, praising herself for all her exploits, such as leading the Fraggles away from the Great Hall when a massive explosion blew a huge hole at the top of the ceiling and that day she made a peace treaty with the King of the Doozers, who hadn't been a Doozer at all, but a small rodent-like creature with a smart mouth.

She passed some Doozers, little green creatures only six inches high, carving blocks out of a pile of gray mushrooms. Sometimes it frustrated Fraggles to see Doozers chip away at their dietary staple, but Princess Gwen had made a peace treaty after all. Doozers would keep Fraggles informed of any dangers that may escape a Fraggle's notice in return for being allowed to carve mushroom blocks.

"Hey! Wait up!" cried a tiny voice from behind.

Princess Gwen stopped and looked down. A tiny male Doozer huffed and puffed, tiny beads around his neck chinking in rhythm. "How can I help _you_, Little Doozer?"

"We found burning fur this morning over by the Crystal Cavern," he replied wearily as he bent over to catch his breath. "It's the strangest thing … the stuff doesn't even burn."

"I thought you just said --."

The tiny Doozer shook his head. "It's on fire, but isn't turning to ash like everything else does." He paused. "It's weird." He reared back his head to see the Fraggle's face. "I just thought you might want to check it out, uh, Princess Gwenalot?"

The Fraggle Princess smirked. "It's Gwenelyn … but I think I might just like your version better," she told him politely. She patted him on the head before racing off. "Thanks a lot!" she yelled as she disappeared through a tunnel.

The Doozer stared in the direction she went and shrugged. "I didn't even get a chance to tell her where it was."

Soon Princess Gwen (or Gwenalot, as she had decided to call herself on her new adventure) found a small group of Fraggles weaving. They muttered and mumbled and tried to avoid eye contact. Princess Gwenalot stood there motionless, save for tapping her foot expectantly. She cleared her throat.

One Fraggle lifted a small cap from her head and the Princess saw that she was bald. The female Fraggle, pink with small bone earrings adorning the sides of her face, spoke softly. "The Rock will stop soon. We have to make hats so we don't freeze."

Princess Gwenalot nodded and leaned closer, noting that the group scooted away from her slightly. "Is there, um, anything I can do to help?"

The bald Fraggles with caps looked at each other and shook their heads. "You have hair, you wouldn't understand."

Princess Gwenalot frowned and placed her hands huffily on her hips. "What is _that_ supposed to mean? Just because I have hair doesn't mean I don't care about hairless Fraggles."

Another golden Fraggle piped up. "My brother Fishface says the Fraggles with hair are spoiled and lazy."

"Yeah, and they just go off on adventures and leave the rest of us to freeze," said another Fraggle.

"_What_?" Princess Gwenalot shrieked. "_We're not lazy! How dare this Fishface Fraggle say such ugly things about us? We're all just the same!_"

"Says a Princess," muttered Fishface's sister bitterly.

Princess Gwenalot growled in fury and stomped off, leaving behind a bunch of self-absorbed, muttering Fraggles. After a couple of hours had passed and after eating some ripe mushmellons with mushrooms on the side, Princess Gwenalot flopped down next a bubbling stream and threw a pebble into it in frustration. "It's not bad to be a Princess," she whimpered.


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

Princess Gwenalot awoke from her nap, stretching and knocking over her metal helmet with a clang, making some random critters skitter away. She looked around and gasped as she saw a cloud of mist in the air. She jumped up and it appeared again, right in front of her face. She rubbed her eyes and realized that it was her breath fogging in the cold tunnel.

She looked around for some mushrooms to eat, but she soon heard strumming of some stringed instrument farther down in the tunnel. The Princess wrapped herself in her cape, plopped her helmet on her head, and walked down the tunnel to see the source off the music.

In a rather large cave, a lone Fraggle with slicked-back black hair and blue-green skin sat on a large boulder, balancing precariously on a pillar of loose rocks. He had a rough deep voice as he sang:

_Well, if your baby leaves you,_

_and you got a tale to tell._

_Just take a walk down lonely street_

_to Heartbreak Hotel._

_You'll be so lonely baby,_

_your gonna be lonely,_

_you'll be so lonely you could die._

_Oh although it's always crowded,_

_you still can find some room._

_For broken hearted lovers to cry away their gloom. _

_They've been so lonely baby, well they're so lonely,_

_they're so lonely they could die…._

Princess Gwenalot tightened the cape around her as she approached the singer. She looked up, her voice still rather dazed from sleeping for so long. "Crooner? What are you doing here?"

Crooner's face brightened and he leapt off the boulder, nearly making it crash to the cave floor. He dusted himself off and smiled as widely as he could. "Gwenelyn!"

"Gwenalot."

Crooner tilted his head in confusion. He smiled again though and patted her strongly on her back. "Hey, you know what, Baby? If you're goin' undercover, you gotta come up with a better alias than _that_." He walked over to a flowing white robe that was sparkling with glitter. He winked at her. "I heard you were comin' over to Blue Rock. I wanted to help you out before you got there."

"Thanks, but --."

"No," he replied, shaking his head, "don't thank me! That Rock will make you see what you fear most – and I already _know_ what you fear most, baby girl."

Princess Gwenalot sighed and rubbed her snout in frustration. Her voice sounded resigned, "I thought a sacred Minstrel would keep his mind on singing."

Crooner chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, gently blowing her hair from her face. He told her softly, with a smirk, "Now you know song-writin' is more effective when you've experienced it firsthand…."

She pushed him away and kicked a pebble, keeping her eyes downcast. "Then get used to singing that song you just sung," she retorted, frowning. "I'm a Princess. You're a sacred Minstrel --."

"There's sacredness all _around_ us, Gwen … alot," he replied with a hurt, quiet tone. "I don't intend to just _sing_ about life … I want to _enjoy_ it, too." He sadly plucked some strings of his guitar and sighed, keeping his eyes downcast. "You make me happy each time I see you." He looked up at her, his eyes pleading. "In fact, you're the reason my heart can sing."

Princess Gwenalot looked away, biting her lip. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I know, I know," she replied sadly, nodding. "I'm your inspiration and your glory." She finally found the courage to glance at the Minstrel. "Still, I take my job seriously. You should take _yours_ seriously, too." Before he could respond, she held her hand up. "Please, Crooner, I told my magic mirror you'd go help her while I'm on my journey. If you need to give companionship to _anyone_, give it to her … she actually _is_ lonely."

Crooner looked on as his Princess walked away, not looking back. "Ouch," he whispered to himself.

**Author's Note: although it seems like I'm playing with continuity (well, I am, but still…), if you recall, Fraggles who had hair was banished ("better bald than banished!") … so Gwenalot and other Fraggles can still have hair while Fishface is around. Also, Crooner is going to sing Elvis songs (though not a lot). I personally can't stand Elvis, but his style fits well with Crooner's needs.**


	3. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

Princess Gwenalot groaned. Her subjects had started to see the way Crooner, the sacred Minstrel, wandered the whole of Fraggle Rock … but somehow always managed to spend time with the Princess every week.

It's not that she didn't like him that way, because he could really be fun to be around … it was just … that …

… she had … _things_ … to do.

Fraggle Rock sprawled on for ages and it was her job to protect Fraggles from danger. It left her on the "road" a lot, without a lot of time to worry about ….

At any rate, she found herself at a crossroads. To the left lay the great blue rock that tempted any Fraggle worth her mushrooms. The Old Ones said it was necessary to crack it in order to prove their worth as leader of the Fraggles. Princess Gwenalot was _already_ leader, but she wanted to know for herself where her destiny lay.

However, to the right lay that burning piece of fur that the Doozer told her about. Fire was dangerous in Fraggle Rock: in some parts of the Rock, an errant flame could quickly lead to a Rockslide and a painfully loud noise. Her father had told her of Boom Canyon, a place where it was absolutely forbidden to camp overnight. He said over fifty Fraggles had disappeared while the Rock heard an earth-shattering "boom".

As she stared first into one tunnel and then into the other, she heard someone approaching her from the right. She hid in a corner and wrapped her invisibility cape around her. A bright blue Fraggle with a red cap and a brown robe appeared, apparently lost in thought, as he read a piece of paper with such small eyes Princess Gwenalot couldn't really see them. As he got closer, mumbling to himself about diameters and force and gravity, he accidentally stepped on Princess Gwenalot's tail.

"Ouch!" she yipped, jumping a couple of feet off the ground. She growled as she cradled her tail in her arms.

The male Fraggle screamed and jumped back in one hop to the other side of the cave, trembling. "S-sorry!" he exclaimed. "I didn't see you sitting there! Please forgive me, oh Princess Gwenelyn!"

"Gwenalot," she replied.

The male Fraggle's voice changed from booming to timid. He cocked his head to one side, the trembling stopping as he tried to hide the piece of paper behind him. "You changed your name?" he asked, confused. "Why?"

The Princess shrugged and stared at the floor, letting her sore tail fall back down. "I just like the way it sounds better, that's all."

The male Fraggle shook his head. "You hairy Fraggles are really weird," he told her. "You not only have names that have nothing to do with either your looks or your jobs … you also just randomly change them at your slightest whim."

The Princess frowned, putting her hands on her hips. "Well, smarty-robes, what's _your_ name?"

He patted himself on the chest. "Roughchin. I use a stone for a pillow, so it leaves my chin, well, rough."

"Uh_-huh_," she replied in disbelief. "You think you're so smart, what about Crooner? His name is like his job … and _he_ has hair. I guess you shouldn't be so quick to judge other Fraggles, huh?"

Roughchin shrugged. "He's a sacred Minstrel. He's bound to have more sense than the average hairy Fraggle."

"Oooooooo," Princess Gwenalot growled, practically steaming. She could feel her heartbeat all the way up behind her eyes. "Why are you walking around out here?" she barked, trying to change the subject. "Don't you know there's some burning fur out here that doesn't go out?"

Roughchin cleared his throat and tried to inch away from the approaching Princess. "Ah, um, you see, uh …."

Princess Gwenalot sighed and shook her head. Her voice softened as well. "Don't let me catch you around here again, at least until I get this mystery solved. Got it?"

Roughchin nervously nodded. "Y-yes, of course, Princess Gwen-a-pick-a-suffix." He ran off in the opposite direction.

"_It's Gwena__**lot**__!_" she screeched.

As she headed down the right tunnel, the tunnel began to grow more humid, while thick roots ran this way and that and a glittery light glowed stronger and stronger. As she approached what looked like a dead end, it started getting rather warm, which was strange considering how close the Rock was to the Great Rock Freeze. She gulped and spied a lone clump of red fur, with a small flame licking at its edges. There was no smoke and the fur wasn't consumed either. There was also something else … a little round cream-colored rollie, damp from the humid air. She cautiously placed her invisibility cape down so it wouldn't catch fire and approached on tiptoe, her tail waving back and forth behind her for balance. She hunched down and reached for the little rollie.

It turned suddenly on its own to reveal an iris. The flame beside it gave it an eerie orange glow.

Princess Gwenalot shrieked in surprise. "Great Piles of Doozer Dust! It's an – mmphrrmm!" A hand grabbed her snout and as she fainted, she heard cackling laughter.


	4. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

Princess Gwenalot still floated in darkness, though now she could hear fluttering wings and tiny female voices….

"Why do we have to do this by _ourselves_?" one voice whispered angrily. "Where's Hanna?"

A clinking sound and the sound of scratching on paper followed. "She said something about finding a gig making shoes or something."

A long pause followed and then the first voice said, "Well, at least we're not stuck doing _that_."

The two voices giggled for several moments.

Princess Gwenalot opened her eyes, thick and heavy as they felt, and the blurry image of a large room covered in stucco appeared. She didn't move as she glanced around at the ceiling: there were cobwebs and spiders and tiny lizards skittering in and out of cracks in the wall. She found the strength to lift her head and she saw dozens of strange objects, all made out of metal. Some were round like rollies, though a lot larger (almost Fraggle-sized), and some were very pointy. She recognized some … they were called "swords". She used to pretend having one when she was little, using a branch and waving it around in her parents' room.

She groaned as she sat up, and heard buzzing around her ears. She swatted.

"Hey, watch it, furball!" the two voices screamed.

Princess Gwenalot looked around and spotted two strange dragonfly-like creatures with smooth pale skin and silvery long hair, wearing what looked like leaf remnants. They weren't insects, though … she didn't know _what_ they were.

"Are you just going to sit on that pile of armor all day, or are you going to get up off your big furry butt and let us do our job?" taunted one, with her hand on her hip, her wings flittering madly.

"I don't have a big furry butt," Princess Gwenalot protested. "I'm very petite among the Fraggles. I don't have an ounce of fat on me!"

The other creature smirked. "You look like a big fat waste of fur to _us_."

Princess Gwenalot stood angrily, pumping her fist as her tail started to flicker about. "You aren't very nice!"

The first creature stuck out her tongue. "Who ever told you fairies were _nice_?" she replied, laughing. "Stupid little furb--." The fairy stopped mocking the newcomer when the newcomer grabbed her in her hand and squeezed slightly.

Princess Gwenalot grinned with a devilish grin. "I'm smart enough to know that you little things can be swatted like the weird bugs you are," she coldly informed them. "Now, how do I get back to Fraggle Rock?"

The other fairy flew at Princess Gwenalot's hair, pulling and tugging. "Let my sister _go_!"

Princess Gwenalot casually flicked the nagging fairy away, sending her sprawling into a pile of swords that fell down with a raucous clanging. She glared at the one fairy she had captured. "Fraggle Rock?" she asked again with one eyelid drooping down halfway.

The fairy stopped struggling and sighed. "If you've got a thing for rocks, we really can't help you," she replied wearily. She looked up pleadingly. "Please let me go … we've got only 'til one o'clock this afternoon to finish up our inventory for all these weapons."

"Why do you need all these 'weapons'?" the Princess asked.

The fairy shook her head. "I really don't know. You have no idea what it's like to live only to serve a ruler who's stronger than you. We'll be severely punished if you don't let us finish." She tried to free herself once more. "Please! These aren't even _for_ us!"

Princess Gwenalot let her go and the fairy flew over to her bruised and groaning sister. She watched them flick their wings once or twice as one tended the other, happy to be free from the Fraggle grip. "So, who knows how to get me back to Fraggle Rock?"

The bruised fairy looked up at the Fraggle and pointed to the door to the room, which was only twice the Princess' size. "Go out that door and head south until you reach a gate. Sometimes around noon you'll see a big fat hairy animal with horns and long ears snoozing right in front of the gate until he's chased off. If you get to him before then, he can help you."

Princess Gwenalot picked up a short sword that looked almost new and was easy for a Fraggle to carry. She picked up another one and grunted as she opened the door. She stopped and turned to look at the tired fairies. "I really am sorry that I had to be mean to you, uh, 'fairies'," she told them submissively. "You could have avoided all that if you had just been nice to me." She left and gently closed the door behind her.


	5. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

Princess Gwenalot ran straight back to her cave and flopped melodramatically into bed, wrapping herself in her covers.

Her mirror looked on in concern. "Princess Gwen, are you alright? Did you crack that blue rock?"

Princess Gwenalot replied in a muffled voice, "I haven't been yet."

The mirror nodded as best she could. "Ah, so you were afraid to go there, huh?"

The Princess threw off her covers and glared teary-eyed at her mirror. "I was _not_ afraid! I was _Fragglenapped_! I woke up in this strange room with all these 'weapons' and little bug things called 'fairies' and I had to ask for help from some huge mountain of fur who bellowed and made this great big boulder jump out of the way and --."

"Whoa, hang on," the mirror interjected, "I can't keep up with all this excitement!"

"And I had to _live_ it – can you imagine?" the Princess screamed. She buried her face in her pillow and muffled, "I'm going to just stay in my room until I grow gray!"

"Figures … hairy Fraggle only want to stay in bed," a rough male voice taunted.

The Princess looked up. A green Fraggle stood in front of her mirror, his yellow rectangular earrings dangling from each side of his head out from under his large brown cap. His arms were crossed, his tail wagging slowly back and forth. His face wore a permanent droll expression. She sat back up and nodded, rubbing her snout.

"Does Princess dare to wembley in front of her subject?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm _not_ scratching my nose … I'm wiping away some dust, is all," she replied. She stood and dusted herself off some more. "How can I help you?"

"I am Fishface of the Cave of the Great Hole," he told her.

"You mean the Great Hall?"

"No, that is what hairy Fraggle say when they disrespect local tongue," he grunted. "I hear Princess looks to crack the blue rock. I come to mock your failure."

Princess Gwenalot sighed slightly. "I didn't fail, Fishface. I just haven't been yet."

"So, Princess is not coward … Princess is just lazy," he said with a satisfied smirk.

"I am _not_ lazy," she scowled. "You're one to talk, you know … all you want to do is sit on your tail all day and boss Fraggles around."

"That what _real_ leader do," Fishface retorted. "If Princess studied the Legendary Rum-poop more often instead of dancing and laughing and playing with sacred minstrels, she would know of importance of being leader."

The Princess's throat tightened, as well as her fist. "How _dare_ you imply that me an' Crooner --?"

"Imply nothing," Fishface told her. "Only blind Fraggle not see what goes on around here." He grinned darkly. "Even then – sacred Minstrel _sings_ about it everywhere he goes."

The Princess gasped. Her knees felt weak. "What does he say?" she whispered.

Fishface laughed. "True Leader would know these things," he replied as he turned to leave. "Princess should crack the blue rock before the Great Freeze … or someone _else_ might be leader soon." He continued to laugh as he walked out of her cave and the Princess caught him glancing momentarily at the two swords by the exit.

The mirror stared in the direction of the exit for a few moments and glanced back at Gwen. "It only takes one guess to figure out who _he_ thinks should be leader."

Princess Gwenalot slumped down beside her bed, still stunned at the revelation that Crooner was bragging about a relationship that she felt was all in his mind. She nodded slightly. "But he doesn't _do_ anything," she whispered.

"Crooner, or Fishface?" asked the mirror sympathetically.

The Princess buried her head in her hands. "What does it matter?" she mumbled. Suddenly, she looked up, wild-eyed.

"What is it?"

She slapped herself on the forehead. "I left my invisibility cape in that stupid tunnel!"


	6. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

Princess Gwenalot sat in front of her magic mirror, stroking her tail sadly.

"I'm sure you'll find your cape again, Gwen," the mirror encouraged her.

"Oh, it's not that," she replied. She hesitated for several moments before speaking. "I just … I just think that … well," she continued, shrugging mindlessly, "some Fraggles are mad at me. I don't know why." She looked up at her mirror. "What do you think?"

The mirror bit her lip. "Well," she answered softly, "I'm not qualified to tell you what's going to happen. That is really more of a talent that belongs to my sister, Mavis. I can just be your friend, Gwen. I don't know how to do anything else."

Princess Gwenalot looked at her mirror strangely. "But … I didn't ask what the future holds. I asked whether or not you think the other Fraggles are mad at me."

The mirror smiled. "You asked me what I thought, Gwen, and I told you. Now that your request is a bit more specific, I can tell you that some Fraggles don't like you … but a lot of Fraggles do."

"But why don't they like me? All I care about is making sure I do a good job as leader."

"Well, it's my experience that Fraggles are just like lots of different creatures. Some like some things, and some like other things."

Princess Gwenalot frowned and leaned against the mirror gently. "Gee, thanks. That helped make everything _so_ clear," she retorted sarcastically. She sighed. "What about Crooner? Why would he make up stuff about having some sort of relationship? I mean, we're friends and all, but there's no rule saying we can't be friends."

The mirror sighed. "Gwen, Crooner wants you to be with him more. Did you really need me to tell you that?"

The Princess stood up, tossing down her tail, and went over to a small nook in her cave and fished out some mushrooms which she promptly gulped. She smacked her lips and replied, "He's going around singing love songs about me, though!"

"That's _Fishface's_ version of the story," the mirror responded. "Don't you think you should find out for yourself?"

Princess Gwenalot hung her head down. "If I search for Crooner, they'll all just say that --."

A female voice clearing her throat interrupted their conversation. Princess Gwenalot looked up and spied a tall, lavender Fraggle with a bright blue cap and long, thick, dark blue robes with gold trim. Her eyes were soft and unassuming and her voice a pleasant breeze. The female Fraggle nodded and asked if she could enter. Princess Gwenalot agreed and the female Fraggle introduced herself. "Hooba, Princess," she said cheerfully. "My name is Blundig. I hope I didn't interrupt your doomba," she noted with slight alarm as she saw crumbs of mushrooms on the floor.

The Princess smiled. "No, I was just finishing up breakfast anyway. Have a seat on my bed. Relax." She flicked the belubious of her tail to sweep away the crumbs quickly under a mat. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, ah, you see … I've come to offer a suggestion, Your Highness."

Princess Gwenalot glanced over at her mirror and then plopped down on the bed beside Blundig. "You have a suggestion?" she asked casually. "What do you have in mind?"

Blundig maintained a warm smile and informed the Princess that the Great Freeze was coming soon. "Now, even though you're a hairy Fraggle, Princess, I want you to know that you are still well respected in the Great Hole."

"That's not what Fishface tells me," she noted bitterly.

"Well, you _do_ wear a helmet, which is like a hat, so I think you are more like us than you know." She noticed the Princess was staring at the floor and so she changed her voice to a soft whisper. "We've all seen how exhausting being the leader is for you, Princess. I'm sure Fishface only wants to help." The Princess looked up at her quizzically. "Princess, I hope you don't think Fishface is mean. He really does want the best for those of us who live near the Great Hole. Sure, he comes off as overbearing sometimes, but he's not trying to be evil or anything."

"That is so inspired of you," the mirror interjected sincerely.

Blundig smiled and bowed slightly. "Why, thank you! I do apologize … I didn't ask for your name, Mirror."

The mirror's eyes widened. She stuttered and stammered. "Uh, well, I, you see, hm … no one's ever asked me that ever since the Princess found me. I almost forgot what it was."

Princess Gwenalot stared, confused, at her friend. "You didn't tell me you had a name."

"You never really asked, and it wasn't that important anyway. We've been such good friends. My name doesn't really matter much."

Princess Gwenalot stood up and stamped her foot. "Well, now you _have_ to tell me your name! I can't stand not knowing something about my dearest friend!"

"I'm your dearest friend?" the mirror gasped. "Not even Crooner?"

The Princess frowned. "Stop changing the subject!"

The mirror nodded slightly (as much as her head would allow). "Mallory."

"But, doesn't that mean --?" Blundig spurt out.

"Oh, I don't know what it means," Mallory blurted out. She stared at Blundig. "Didn't you have a suggestion for our young Princess?"

"Oh, well, yes, I almost forgot," Blundig replied nervously. "Princess, since Fraggle Rock is such a large place, and you can't be _everywhere_ all at once, we were thinking that, maybe, if you don't mind, you might agree to sharing your job with others. That way, when an emergency pops up, you aren't stuck doing something more, um, domestic."

"Domestic?"

"Yes," Blundig said happily. "You know: cleaning, cooking, decorating – that type of stuff."

The Princess scratched her scalp. "But, Fraggles are free to do that stuff anyway. Why do I have to organize it?"

"It's not a criticism of your leadership skills," Blundig answered diplomatically. "Some Fraggles just appreciate a little more, uh, direction, in their lives. You go off on a lot of adventures protecting us from danger. If you had some type of helpers, they could help with some of the more _local_ problems."

"Princess! Princess!" a shrieking male voice announced, followed by its owner, a male Fraggle, with a brown tunic, green skin, a bulbous nose, and blond hair and goatee. "Princess! There's some type of terrible monster floating around in a tunnel a few hours' walk from the Great Hall!"

"Oh my," Blundig gasped.

The male Fraggle kneeled down at the Princess' feet. "I, Sir Blunderbrain, do beseech you to come with me at once, Your Highness." He revealed a small shield under his tunic.

"Maybe we'll need these," Princess Gwenalot offered, picking up the two swords.

"Oh no," Sir Blunderbrain said. "This monster cannot be cut down in so physical a manner."

"Fine," she replied, dropping the swords. She ran over to Blundig and patted her on the back. "Congratulations, you're my official Local Leader."

"Me?"

"Yeah," the Princess told her, "you seem to know what you're talking about. You can start by teaching Fishface some manners." She smiled at Mallory. "I'll be back in a flash, Mallory. Thanks for telling me your name."


	7. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

"So, where is this monster?" Princess Gwenalot asked Sir Blunderbrain as they raced down the tunnels toward the Great Hall.

He panted as he replied, "Well, Your Highness, no one has seen it, actually." He jumped over a small plant as he ran. "Lots of things have been happening all over the Rock, and all we hear is laughing, and that's all we know."

Princess Gwenalot stopped dead in her tracks. Her body shivered uncontrollably, her eyes wide and her pupils constricted.

Sir Blunderbrain finally noticed she wasn't next to him and he stopped and turned around. She was pale. "What's the matter?" he asked her. Running over to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Since when is our fair Princess afraid of monsters?"

She shook her head. "I'm not afraid of monsters – I'm afraid of laughing," she told him wearily. She saw his confused and empathetic expression. "I can't remember how I ended up awake and sore in some strange place, but it all started off with this frightening laughter," she continued, shaking, hugging her knees. She started to cry. "I – I just don't – want to end up like that again."

Sir Blunderbrain kneeled down beside her and wrapped an arm carefully around the crying Princess. "You were alone when that happened," he informed her tenderly. "Now you're among your fellow Fraggles." He patted himself on the chest. "I trained for months under the dedicated teaching of the brave fox-knight, milady. I would never let anyone or anything harm you. It's a knight's special responsibility." He smiled. "I would overcome any obstacle, no matter how big or how deadly, to ensure the safety of Fraggle Rock."

"Perhaps I have just the thing for our fair Princess," another male voice cheerfully announced.

Princess Gwenalot looked up to see Crooner, smirking confidently with one hand resting on the tunnel wall and a small oval object dangling in his other. Crooner approached, using his now-free hand to slick back his black hair, and bent down to give her the object. "I had this, um, cooked up just for you," he told her warmly.

She looked down at the amulet, with a large oval emerald set in a gold backing. Two tiny outstretched arms and two tiny close legs made it look like a headless Fraggle praising the coming of the new day. It was connected to a leather strap so it could be worn as a necklace. "Where's the face?" she asked him.

Crooner shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Princess, it doesn't need one." He pointed at her. "You are the one who completes the image when you wear it around your neck. I couldn't think of a face more fitting for such a fine piece of art." He hoped that half-baked answer would convince her, for it was all he could think of at the moment.

She shook her head and gave it back to him, despite his shocked facial expression. "I'm not in the mood, Crooner." She stood up. "I appreciate the thought, but we've got a monster --."

"It's always some monster or adventure or some problem with the water supply or a mushroom famine or _something_," Crooner retorted bitterly. "Just once, can't you forget you're a Princess so we can have some fun?"

Princess Gwenalot glared at him, forgetting that Sir Blunderbrain was still there. "Why don't you just continue making up a relationship in your songs? I hear that's what you're good at."

Crooner sang a brief verse in reply:

_If you think that this is just a game  
I'm playing  
If you think that I don't mean  
ev'ry word I'm saying  
Don't, don't feel that way  
I'm your love and yours I will stay_ --. **Author's note: song "Don't" by Elvis.**

The Princess rolled her eyes and shoved her way past him. "I can't just forget about my job, Crooner. You may be able to just skip out on _your_ duties, but I can't. I dance and sing on my own time." She pointed accusingly at him. "You wait to woo me until I'm needed elsewhere, then you get all mad at me when I reject these advances of yours."

"I just think you're taking this whole 'leader' thing a bit too seriously," he protested. "You're not the only Fraggle in the Rock, you know. You don't _have_ to do it all!"

"How can a sacred Minstrel have such a lazy attitude?" Princess Gwenalot shouted.

"For Rock's sake, Gwen – I'm a glorified song collector," he shot back angrily. "I'm like the fifth Minstrel in the last millennium – or something like that – I can't really remember how many there've been. But that's not the point – the _point_ is that I think we've covered just about every song there is to sing. I don't have to work all day and all night looking for new ones." He wrenched his hands. "_That's_ what I'm trying to get across to you, Gwen – there _is_ life outside of work."

For several moments, they just stared at each other, seething.

"Awkward," commented Sir Blunderbrain. They shot him a deadly glare. He stepped away from both of them. "You know, I'll just scout ahead," he told them timidly as he headed down further into the tunnel.

Finally, Princess Gwenalot sighed and turned her back on Crooner. "I'm a Princess, Crooner, not your best friend. I'm sorry." She started down the tunnel after the Fraggle knight.

Crooner, struggling to hold back tears, grunted, staring at the ground. "I wish you knew what it was like not to have a best friend either," he muttered under his breath.


	8. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

"I'm telling you right now," Princess Gwenalot growled as she pinned Sir Blunderbrain to the tunnel wall, "my argument with Crooner is _not_ up for discussion!"

"Y-yes, ma'am," he stuttered.

She dropped him and spied a warm yellow light coming from a tunnel just up ahead. It was so inviting, so mesmerizing, that she forgot all her anger and sadness and just ignored Sir Blunderbrain as she headed to the entrance of a large cave that turned out to be filled with thousands of crystals of every color, covering nearly every inch of the area – an area that rivaled the size of the Great Hall.

They stared at it for several moments before Sir Blunderbrain finally whispered, "This is the Crystal Cavern. My sources declare this is the likeliest place for the monster to hide."

"But it's so beautiful," she whispered back. She soaked in the sights as she entered the cavern, impressed with the high ceiling and the sparkling of the crystals. "I could stay here forever."

"_Well, dat can certainly be arranged_," boomed a deep male voice that resonated throughout the entire cavern, followed by hearty laughter.

Sir Blunderbrain jumped in front of the Princess and held up his shield. "Monster – show yourself or fall prey to a brave Fraggle knight!"

There was a short pause before the voice replied dryly, "_Knight, eh? I'm shakin' in my boots. You both seem a little hardcore for a bunch of singing and dancing featherweights. I wonder if any of the rest o' you guys are so cruel to your guests_."

"We're not the ones who are cruel, foul beast!" retorted the Fraggle knight. "Four Fraggles have disappeared and now our own plants in Fraggle Rock are turning against us! They may very well start to eat us alive!"

"_Well, I can't say those plants have very good taste_," the voice shot back with a chuckle. "_Just take a look – a gander, if you will – and you'll see just how happy and carefree you Fraggles REALLY are_."

The crystals dazzled with a tremendous brilliance. When the light died down, Sir Blunderbrain and Princess Gwenalot saw images of Fraggles all over Fraggle Rock portrayed within the crystals. Some were using paddles to whack rocks at tiny creatures, who looked terrified. Some were knocking down Doozer blocks with glee.

But what got Princess Gwenalot's attention was an image of Fishface as he spoke to many capped Fraggles, including Blundig and Roughchin. He berated the Princess in front of them, warning that she would disappear just like the last time something important had to happen, like confirming her leadership by cracking the blue rock. Blundig nodded in agreement, saying that it was time that the Princess retired.

"You're a liar!" Princess Gwenalot shouted angrily, her fists clenched tightly. "Blundig _promised_ me Fishface wasn't that mean!"

"_Yeah, well, the proof is in the mushroom puddin', ain't it_?"

"My fair Princess is right!" shouted Sir Blunderbrain. "Fraggles would never turn on each other."

"_Hey, look – it's nothin' personal, y'know?_" the voice commented. "_Fraggles are tired of ineffective leadership – always goin' around havin' fun while the rest o' the poor slobs gotta scrape and save and toil under terrible jobs_." He laughed. "_It's high time Fraggles get a chance to enjoy life, too! I call for a change in government organization!_" His laughter continued as the cavern began to rumble and shake.

The knight and the Princess started to dash back toward the entrance, but a shower of falling crystals stopped them. Suddenly, the knight pushed the Princess to the ground as the ceiling finally caved in ….


	9. Chapter 8

_Chapter 8_

Princess Gwenalot finally worked up the courage to open her eyes. Sir Blunderbrain was still on top of her back, panting. She shook him off and turned over on her back to look up. The ceiling was now only about five feet above the ground, prevented from falling further thanks to several large crystal columns.

Sir Blunderbrain sighed. "Are you injured, my Princess?" he asked wearily.

She shook her head. "I'm okay. A couple of crystals hit my head, but I'm glad I had a helmet. You should probably look into getting one yourself." She looked over at him, exhausted. "Are _you_ okay, Sir Blunderbrain?"

He paused for a long time. Finally, he said, "Do you feel damp anywhere?"

"No …."

"Then I'm fine," he said with a shrug and a smile.

Princess Gwenalot sighed and relaxed her body. "Why would even a monster try to kill us?"

Sir Blunderbrain rubbed his head. "I don't know, Your Highness," he replied. "We're just doing our job. It's the job of a monster to be vanquished." He smirked and chuckled. "It doesn't seem too complicated a task, does it?"

"Right now, getting out of here is too complicated," she noted sadly.

Sir Blunderbrain arched his neck back a little to spot the exit. "It's only about ten feet away, and there's plenty of room to get through it. Let's get out of here."

Princess Gwenalot sniffled. "Do you think those crystals were telling the truth? Do you think Fraggles really do hate me?"

The Fraggle knight sighed. "Princess Gwenelyn, you are the fairest, most responsible Fraggle in all of Fraggle Rock. You _do_ tend to have a one-tunnel mind, though. I mean that in the most humble and respectful way, of course, milady."

"But what good will it do to keep being the leader if it means no one likes me?" she continued, her lips trembling. "I've got some Fraggles telling me that they don't want leaders, and I've got other Fraggles telling me they're only comfortable if someone tells them what to do. I'm being pulled in two different directions. I'm running out of solutions, brave knight. It's gone from Fraggles wagging their tongues at me to monsters all over the Rock trying to kill me."

"You didn't mind vanquishing monsters before," he offered, trying to hide a bored and frustrated tone.

The Princess stared at the crystals, which seemed more scratched up now she was so close to them. In fact, life in general was starting to seem not quite so perfect upon further inspection. Such a revelation began to wear on her. Time seemed to slow down – even a bit of dust floating lazily in the still cave air seemed to stop midway. "I wish I had my cape," she grumbled at last.

Sir Blunderbrain grunted as he tried to sit up. There was a large crystal overhead that made it a tight fit for him, but at last he succeeded. He glanced all around the Crystal Cavern. Even being nearly destroyed hadn't tarnished its beauty in the slightest. In fact, now that the crystals were closer together, they illuminated the cavern with greater intensity than before. He wanted to take the Princess' mind off things, so he began to sing…

_All the days,_

_Through the haze,_

_I sought to be strong._

_So I picked up_

_My shield and strode along._

_Princess Gwen,_

_It was 'round ten,_

_You wondered what went wrong._

_So, later then,_

_You'd know if you belonged._

_I tell you –_

_Shine your helmet brightly_

_And move on._

_Don't fear to tread lightly_

_And move on._ **Author's Note: rewritten "Friendship Song" from "Marooned" episode.**

Princess Gwenalot sat up, staring at her loyal knight.

Sir Blunderbrain smiled and pointed to the exit. "The way out's just over there."

"But the monster may still catch us," she begged.

The crystals, which had grown more dazzling with the song, spoke in a melodious voice. "_Thank you for healing us, young Fraggles_," the voice noted happily. "_We are the heart – the light – the pathmakers of the Rock. We are happy to aid you in your quest._"

The light grew so intense the two Fraggles embraced each other and clenched their eyelids shut. When they started to hear the shocked murmurs of a crowd of Fraggles, they opened their eyes and looked up. Far above them was a large hole leading to a darkening blue sky.

They were in the Great Hall.


	10. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9_

"Princess!" cried Blundig as she ran toward the two Fraggles who just mysteriously appeared in the Great Hole, as the bald Fraggles called it. She noticed the Princess tense up as she embraced them both. "Are you alright? How did that happen?"

Princess Gwenalot stood up and looked around. The Great Hall was filled with Fraggles with caps and there were even some Fraggles with hair here and there. A gentle snow drifted in from the hole in the cave ceiling. The cave reverberated with what sounded like a low moan among the mutterings of the crowd. She looked at Blundig with a sad surprise. "You really care about me?" she asked.

Blundig's jaw dropped. "Of _course_ we do – we _all_ do!" she replied, amazed such a question could come out of the Princess' mouth.

"But we saw you and Fishface," Princess Gwenlot countered, pointing at Fishface, who wore a solemn expression, "and we saw you both agree that you didn't want me to be leader anymore."

Blundig opened her mouth to reply, but Fishface stopped her, placing his hand on her shoulder. His expression didn't change. He stared intently at the newly arrived pair. "Fraggle leader not doing job. Job is --."

Princess Gwenalot shot up and pushed him away. "How dare you!" she screamed. "I'm risking my life to protect you Fraggles and no matter how hard I work, you always find something to complain about!"

"Princess," gasped Blundig and Sir Blunderbrain.

Fishface swallowed hard and eventually shook his head. Bowing slightly, he protested in monotone, "Job of leader to be there for Fraggles, not just protect them. We see Fraggle leader need help. I," he continued, pausing with disgust at what he was going to say, "only … want to … _help_ Princess." He glanced briefly at Blundig, who nodded slightly and smiled. He glanced back at the Princess. "We have Legendary Rum-poop. Princess not read it. Blundig and Fishface read it."

"We're looking for ways to stop that monster," Blundig offered. A small yellow-green male Fraggle with a thick green robe with red trim and white floral patterns appeared, taking a thin collection of paper out from under his yellow-green cap. Blundig took them from him. "Thank you, No-Neck," she told him, making him smile sheepishly. She looked at the papers and frowned. "The Legendary Rum-poop says that the monster is indomitable."

"Huh?" asked Sir Blunderbrain.

Blundig glanced over at Fishface with a worried expression. He nodded and sighed. "Means monster can't be hurt," he grumbled.

"Well, how does one defeat the undefeatable?" asked Sir Blunderbrain.

"It doesn't say," Blundig responded thoughtfully.

"Some all-knowing book," Princess Gwenalot grumbled, glaring at Fishface, making him avoid eye contact briefly.

"_The only answer is to lay down and kiss your tails good-bye_," boomed the deep voice from the Crystal Cavern. The falling snow turned into a thick mist that swirled around the Great Hall. When it stopped and dissipated, flowing purple and green robes fluttered in the air, soon filled with a green-skinned being with an upturned nose and purple wispy hair. He played with his gold earrings a bit, laughing to himself, his beady black eyes sparkling. Now that he had materialized, his voice no longer reverberated. "You Fraggles are a bunch of Doozers, you know dat?" he asked. "All you care about is cleanin' your room and actin' wit' manners and pretendin' to act all cheerful when ya do it." He shuddered. "Life is wort' livin', folks. Dat's the honest truth."

Princess Gwenalot didn't hear the frightened screams of the other Fraggles. She didn't hear the bellowed orders of Fishface.

All she could do …

… was think of Crooner.


	11. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10_

As if on cue, Crooner ran into the Great Hall, his guitar slung on his back, wearing a much thicker white robe with golden sparkles that rustled as he ran. "What are you doing?" he yelled at the strange creature.

"My job," puffed the creature. "I'm a genie – I get to do whatevah I want. Got it?" He pointed at the Minstrel. "I granted your wishes, Fraggle. You ain't gotta be so ungrateful, you know."

Everyone in one motion stopped panicking to stare at the Minstrel. Crooner slicked his hair back and pumped his fist. "I'll stop you – you won't harm another Fraggle for as long as you live!"

"Tch – that'll be the day," the genie replied casually. He spied the Princess and the knight. "Hey, what's dis? I thought I got rid of you two troublemakers already."

"You did _what_?" Crooner barked in alarm.

The genie cleared his throat and brought out a small piece of paper from a pocket hidden in the folds of his robes. "An' I quote: 'I wish da Princess would see life da way it really is'." He put the paper back and shrugged pompously. "It's not my fault dere's not a lot of life to like nowadays."

Crooner was pale. His voice shook slightly. "That's – that's not what I wanted," he whispered. He turned and dashed away as the genie chortled and guffawed.

The genie lowered himself to just above the heads of the Fraggles.

"Get it for me!" bellowed a thunderous female voice from above.

The genie looked up and frowned in confusion. "Yeah, dat was weird. Anyway," he continued, looking around at all the Fraggles, "which ones o' you am I gonna knock off first, huh?"

"You know good knock-knock jokes?" asked Sir Blunderbrain, shield at the ready.

The genie scoffed, "Yeah, but dis ain't no joke, got it? I gotta hear nuttin' but singin' and dancin' day in an' day out. I can't ever get a wink o' sleep. An' you guys laugh like it's goin' outta style or somethin'. One more laugh outta any o' you, an' I'm bringin' this whole cave down, squashin' you like a bunch of bugs." He doubled over in laughter.

Inspiration struck Princess Gwenalot. "Come on, everybody! Let's use our tails and tickle him into submission!" She saw the crowd of Fraggles look at her as though she had grown another head. She growled, "What are you waiting for? I'm not the only Fraggle here, am I? If we gang up on him, he can't stop us!"

The genie grabbed Princess Gwenalot by her throat and lifted her up into the air above the frozen Fraggle Pond. "You really are a piece o' work, you know dat?" he grumbled. His voice boomed. "I can get rid o' all you Fraggles in one spell if I wanna! An' don't you forget it!" He leaned closer in on the Princess. "Why, you don't seem to be enjoyin' yourself at all, _'Your Highness_'!"

Crooner reappeared in the Great Hall and jumped up on a large boulder bordering the pond. "Let her go!"

"Make me, loser," retorted the genie without even looking.

Crooner whipped out a long pipe, made of two separate intertwining tubes, one green and one copper-looking. He inhaled deeply, closed his eyes, and blew as hard as he could. A shrill note resounded through the air. The genie dropped Princess Gwenalot and clenched the sides of his head, as did most of the Fraggles below him.

A piercing shriek from above harmonized briefly with Crooner's distraction, and a small bottle dropped from the sky. "My pain tonic!" screeched a female voice.

Sir Blunderbrain caught the small bottle in his hands after it bumped him on his head. He glanced up at the genie. "Hey, I got some magic juice here that will stop you certainly!" he boasted confidently.

The genie took his hands off his ears and smirked. "Is dat so?" he asked.

Sir Blunderbrain opened the bottle and poured out the dark purple liquid onto the cave floor. He stood there, stunned, as the genie began to snicker. "Oh yeah," continued the genie, "I'm in for it now!"

"But it should have worked," mumbled Sir Blunderbrain.

Fishface dragged Princess Gwenalot from the frozen Fraggle Pond and smiled at her for the first time since they met. He tugged at the genie's robes and pointed at him. "Real magic covered in muck and goo of bottle," he informed the genie. "It magic spell written to take away genie powers." He turned his back on the genie and smiled broadly, shrugging. "Of course, when we clean bottle, we will see spell and cast it on genie and he will disappear forever."

The genie's face fell, frowning for the first time. His voice had a deadly tone. "Is dat so?"

"Is so," Fishface replied, crossing his arms in indignation.

"I t'ink I'll just get rid of that stupid spell – as if it could bother me anyways," the genie decided. He shrunk himself in a cloud of mist and entered the bottle to prevent the Fraggles from seeing it.

Sir Blunderbrain quickly and almost instinctively popped the cork back onto the bottle, trapping the genie for all time, amid a crowd of cheering Fraggles.


	12. Chapter 11

_Chapter 11_

As the moon shone through the Great Hole, Princess Gwenalot stared at a small map along with Blundig and Fishface. It wasn't a very detailed map: the bottom left corner had the Great Hole, a few tunnels were roughly sketched out leading to a few smaller caves like Crystal Caverns, and the top right corner had the Great Cave (which was where Princess Gwenalot laid her head each night). The three whispered so as not to disturb sleeping Fraggles.

"Alright," began Princess Gwenalot, "I'll maintain my general authority, but I'll focus my attention on Great Cave." She and Blundig looked at Fishface. "Well," stated the Princess, "I think it's past time Fishface got promoted." She looked down and smiled. "I was wrong to doubt you. Your quick thinking defeated that awful genie."

Fishface snorted briefly and averted his eyes. "Genie arrogance defeat Genie. Fishface only use to advantage."

Blundig smiled warmly. "Don't be so _modest_, Fishface," she whispered cheerfully. She rubbed one of her cheeks on her shoulder, aware that she was starting to blush. "You are a beacon of light to all in the Great Hole." She noticed Fishface smirk slightly.

Princess Gwenalot quickly rolled her eyes, hoping neither would notice. "So, Fishface, what area do you want to oversee?"

Fishface avoided looking at her. Instead, he craned his neck to stare at the moon, which gave a twinkle to his eyes. "I am of the Great Hole. I know every rock, every leaf, every mushroom --."

"Got it," the Princess interrupted. "You want the 'Great Hole'. As Assistant Leader it will be your job to answer questions and offer advice." She turned to Blundig, who suddenly stopped staring at Fishface and returned her attention to the Princess. "I guess that means you get the Tunnels in between," she told the dreamy Fraggle.

Blundig nodded. "As you wish, Princess," she replied. "I prefer to collect stories anyway for the Legendary Rum-poop. This way I can do both."

Fishface leaned in close to Blundig. "You _are_ like Princess, aren't you, Blundig?" he whispered softly. "You go wherever wind take you."

Blundig cut him a dirty glance. "_That's not a bad thing_," she hissed curtly. He snorted his disapproval and leaned back again, crossing his arms in frustration.

"What are we going to do with the genie's bottle?" asked Princess Gwenalot, oblivious to the brief argument.

"I keep bottle," Fishface muttered. "Fishface make sure genie never hurt Fraggles again." He motioned at all of the Great Hole. "I will make sure Fraggles give Genie no reason to hurt again, even if means laughter is banished."

"_WHAT_?" Princess Gwenalot exclaimed loudly, jumping up.

Blundig shot up and clasped a hand over the Princess' mouth. "Shh! You'll wake half the Rock!" she pleaded quietly.

The Princess tore herself away. She could barely keep her voice in a whisper. "I don't care! What do you mean, banning laughter?"

Fishface stood slowly and pointed at her. "Fishface willing to make sacrifice to help Fraggles. Princess claim adventure is _Princess_ sacrifice. Blundig sacrifice time to collect legend. _Fishface_ know about sacrifice too!" He briefly stole a pained glance at Blundig before continuing, "Princess recognize Fishface achievement. Does Princess go back on word?"

Realizing she'd been caught between saying yes and being branded a liar and saying no and being branded selfish, Princess Gwenalot grit her teeth and sat back down. She strained, feeling that each word was a lump of rock going up her throat, "I apologize, Fishface. Please guard the Fraggles of the Great Hole as you see fit." It burned her up to let Fishface do something so … so … mean (as she saw it, anyway). However, she had already spoken her peace about the matter. She was forced to comply or risk losing everything. No one would ever listen to her again if she were branded as either lying or selfish.

All three Fraggles stare at each other, with Blundig caught uncomfortably between them. Soon they each have a quizzical look on their faces while other Fraggles start waking up in fear. Their knees started to tremble.

And soon so did the floor of the cave.

It started off as just a tremble, but quickly turned into a jerking that made the trio fall down. Rocks started falling off ledges and soon the word was out:

"Rockquake!"

Princess Gwenalot got back up and started to shout, trying to awaken all the sleeping Fraggles. Blundig and Fishface both herded frightened Fraggles toward a great arch, which had never succumbed to rockquakes before. The thought that terrified denizens of the Great Hole the most was the ceiling. The large hole that showed the sky would most likely be the first to crumble, and no Fraggle wanted that.


	13. Chapter 12

_Chapter 12_

After the initial shake, everything seemed to quiet down. However, just as the Fraggles were starting to calm, jets of mud spewed from various vents and cracks all over Fraggle Rock. The only good thing about it was that it was rather warm in comparison to the cold winter air. So, for a time, the Fraggles started to dance and cover themselves in warm mud, until you couldn't tell the Fraggles from the rocks.

Princess Gwenalot tried to wipe off the mud from her once-shiny helmet, to no avail. She found Blundig, who seemed to be trying on mud as some sort of facial treatment. "Blundig, I have to go find out what caused this," she told her assistant leader. "Will you check on the Fraggles of the Great Cave for me while I'm gone?"

Blundig nodded. "Of course, Princess. I'm happy to assist you." Before the Princess could get away, she added, "Won't you need someone to go with you? It could be very dangerous."

"I'll take Blunderbrain with me," replied the Princess.

Princess Gwenalot started down a rarely used tunnel, leading to a large chasm that, had they had more accurate maps, would almost fully separate the Great Cave from the Great Hole. She started to hum to herself as she traveled, hoping to catch up to the Fraggle knight, who had left to investigate damage to various tunnels.

"May I join you?" asked Crooner from behind.

She turned and stared at him. He wasn't as dirty as other Fraggles. Apparently he had used his once-white robes as shelter from the mud. "You really want to come with me?" she asked innocently.

Crooner was rather surprised the Princess wasn't yelling at him for causing the recent trouble with the genie, but he thought maybe it'd be better if he didn't bring it up unless she did first. "I just wanted to accompany you," he told her softly. "This could be dangerous --."

"I don't need a bodyguard," Princess Gwenalot sighed. "I'm glad you and Blundig are worried about me, but I'm not really that weak, you know. I've survived being Fragglenapped, being caught in a cave-in in the Crystal Caverns --."

Crooner nodded. "Yes, yes – I know. May I not tag along? You are always calling me lazy … I just want to feel useful right now," he said as he hung his head.

The Princess sighed and nodded at the twin pipe buried in his robes. "Where did you get that, anyway?"

Crooner frowned imperceptibly, hating that she liked to change the subject when it came to offering a chance to be together, and told her, "The lead Fraggle Minstrel's instrument is the Magic Pipe. It has special powers and is inherited from the previous lead Minstrel." He shrugged. "I don't usually have it out because I like the guitar better."

"But you saved me," Princess Gwenalot noted with a sly smile.

Crooner stood back and blushed. "Uh … yes … I suppose so." He scoffed and averted his eyes, unable to contain a small grin. "I just didn't want to get caught having to take care of your mirror should anything happen to you. She can be hard to get along with, sometimes."

Princess Gwenalot laughed. She enjoyed the idea that Crooner wanted to woo her, but was too cowardly to take as well as he gave. Still, there was business to attend to. "Actually, speaking of Mallory, would you mind checking on her?"

Crooner's face froze. "Mallory? Your mirror?" He slicked back his hair and stared at the ground. "Why are you suddenly worried about _her_?"

Princess Gwenalot smiled warmly and placed a hand tenderly on Crooner's shoulder. "She's my best friend. I want to make sure the rockquake didn't crack her." She paused, knowing full well that Crooner would protest this as yet another attempt to distance herself from him. "Crooner, I'm not mad about the whole genie thing. You didn't know he'd try to kill me and Sir Blunderbrain. I'm asking you to do this important thing for me because … because … because I trust you with her most of all."

Cooner sighs and looks away wistfully. "Your wish is my command, milady," he told her sadly.

She smacked him upside his head. "Don't talk to me like that, Crooner," she barked half-playfully. "You aren't my slave or anything. You're … more than that," she said finally as she left him to return to her cave.


	14. Chapter 13

_Chapter 13_

Deep down the chasm walls climbed Princess Gwenalot and Sir Blunderbrain. She noticed that he had a small black vase-like object on his head, held in place with a leather strap. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

He smiled. "After that bottle hit me in the head, I took your advice to find a helmet to heart," he replied cheerfully. "Not only does it protect my head, but I can store stuff in it, too!"

"I guess that's using your head," Princess Gwenalot remarked as she focused on keeping her balance on a particularly narrow ledge.

"Better to use it than to bruise it," Sir Blunderbrain cackled.

When they finally reached the bottom of the chasm, the sound of mud popping and plopping met them.

"Wow," Sir Blunderbrain gasped with eyes wide as he took in the scene. The entire chasm was caked in mud. Huge mounds of mud were hardening and cracking open. After about ten minutes, the whole place was swarming with blue-purple reptiles.

"What _are_ they?" Princess Gwenalot asked to no one in particular.

The creatures were scaly like lizards. Each had half-closed eyes and a purple curved horn on their heads. They all seemed kind of dopey. A whole chasm filled with hundreds of purple lizards. The two Fraggles had never seen anything like that before.

The lizards' stupor and disorientation didn't last long after they burst from muddy mounds. Perhaps it was due to the huge population of lizards so crowded in one space. Perhaps it was just the nature of these creatures. Soon, though, they all began to panic. They tried to climb out of the chasm, but the slippery mud forced them back down. They started to scream.

The mud underneath them started to churn and bubble and the ground and chasm walls started to rumble once again.

Princess Gwenalot and Sir Blunderbrain looked at each other in disbelief.

Sir Blunderbrain's smile nearly took over his entire face. "It appears, milady, that the rocks will crush us … _once again_."

Princess Gwenalot smiled sheepishly. "Seems that way."

"Have you been enchanted with some bad luck curse or some such thing?"

The Princess chuckled.


	15. Chapter 14

_Chapter 14_

Little rocks and huge boulders started to tremble from their ledges and fall to the ground. Sir Blunderbrain stood in front of the Princess, brandishing his shield. "Fear not, fair maiden! I shall – arrgh!" he yelled as Princess Gwenalot grabbed him by the back of the neck and ran off.

They reached the chasm walls and realized there was no way out.

"But milady!" Sir Blunderbrain protested, trying to break free of her grip.

"Over here!" yelled several lizards in raspy voices. The two Fraggles ran over to the lizards, who began to tunnel through the mucky walls. They burrowed a few feet inward and plopped down on the ground, exhausted. The two Fraggles huddled with them. "Sorry," one of the lizards said sadly, "but we're just not able to dig through rock like some other creatures."

"You've kept us safe," replied Princess Gwenalot. She heard screaming and saw utter devastation: some lizards were pinned by rocks, some had fallen into gurgling pools of mud, some had … well … many lizards were not going to make it. The Princess' face fell and grew pale. "What can we do to help them?" she asked the lizards in a teeny voice.

The lizards looked sadly at the fate of their companions. "We're afraid this fate is ours," they said, telling the two Fraggles of the story of their kind.

_They knew very little about their parents, waking up one moment encased in drying mud without a mother or father to watch over them. Though they were ignorant of their pasts, they could feel the sheer number of their kind and knew that perhaps they were TOO plentiful for such a confined space. They awoke and broke free of their mud all at the same time, causing a rousing echo that spooked them and sent them into a panic._

The lizards hung their heads. "The only thing we know of our parents is that they were supposed to tend to the mud vents," they said. "We don't even know what they looked like or what they were called." They paused, saddened that after the rocks stopped falling, there were only a couple of dozen left.

"That's terrible," whispered Princess Gwenalot, with Sir Blunderbrain nodding in gloomy agreement.

The lizards' heads perked up, shrugging. "Don't be afraid. We know that we must tend the mud better. We'll space ourselves out so the rockquakes won't happen again. We must see our kind dwindle – but we don't want it to happen to anyone else."

Princess Gwenalot frowned. "Just because there are a lot of you doesn't mean you should … _dwindle_," she told them, anger rising slightly in her voice.

One lizard smiled. "Creature, that's what happens when too many wake up."

"But --."

"Princess, let's go," Sir Blunderbrain said softly, patting her on her shoulder. "Creatures must endure according to their natures."

"But --!"

Despite Princess Gwenalot's inability to accept the lizards' comments, they worked their way slowly back up to the Great Hole. Princess Gwenalot stayed uncharacteristically quiet throughout their walk back, and Sir Blunderbrain decided he should try to comfort her. However, before he could open his mouth, Princess Gwenalot shook her head. "I don't want the subject brought up again," she told him matter-of-factly. "If I want to talk about, I will."

He bowed slightly. "Milady."

Just before they reached the Great Hole, Princess Gwenalot stopped Sir Blunderbrain. She stared into his eyes with a pain she was visibly trying to counter. "You know, that's the second time you risked your life to protect mine."

Sir Blunderbrain smiled. "Princess, as a knight I am bidden to protect you with my life!" He chuckled. "That's just how these things are done."

Princess Gwenalot finally returned the smile. "Your willingness for self-sacrifice will come back to haunt you one day."

Sir Blunderbrain bowed and chuckled slightly in turn. He wanted to tell her that he accepted his life's risks, but she had ordered him not to speak of such things until she brought it up.

Of course, she had _just_ brought it up, but he wasn't sure if he should follow through.

He cursed his inability to talk to his own Princess about important things.


	16. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15_

Back at the Great Hole, the sounds of yelling could be heard.

"Mud must be cleaned up!" shouted what sounded like Fishface's voice.

"But it's so _warm_ – why can't we just keep it?" demanded another voice.

"It's icky!" exclaimed a small voice.

"Warmth during Great Freeze might change Freeze!"

"So what?"

"_I am Leader_!"

Definitely Fishface.

Princess Gwenalot and Sir Blunderbrain dashed into the Great Hall to figure out what was going on. To their surprise, bald Fraggles were scrubbing the cave walls furiously while hairy Fraggles were slathering themselves in warm mud while singing.

"Princess Gwenalot!"

Everyone stopped working or singing and stared at the shocked Princess.

"Fishface is Leader. Princess not needed to end squabble," Fishface said haughtily.

Princess Gwenalot bit her tongue. What she'd _really_ like to do is walk over to Fishface and slap him … or at least chide him for letting this get out of hand. However, she resisted. "There doesn't have to be a squabble," she announced. "Both sides have a point."

"No point except to obey Leader," retorted Fishface, coming closer.

Princess Gwenalot frowned slightly. She inched closer to him. "Then obey _her_," she hissed, "_Assistant _Leader."

Fishface growled under his breath and turned his back on her.

Princess Gwenalot turned toward the other Fraggles. "We will keep the mud around as long as it is warm," she announced with a happier tone. "As it begins to cool, it will be cleaned up – or else we'll never get rid of it."

"But milady," offered Sir Blunderbrain quietly, "all this warm mud could postpone the Great Freeze for months."

"Probably Princess' plan," muttered Fishface, crossing his arms as he plopped into a warm puddle of mud – the pleasant feeling of warmth making him smile instinctively despite his foul mood.

Having not heard the grumbling Assistant Leader, Princess Gwenalot shrugged and laughed. "Then I suggest we enjoy this mud while it lasts! As long as we have the bells ready before the Great Freeze _does_ come, we'll be just fine!"

A group of about twenty hairy Fraggles stood up. "We're not cleaning this up," they announced. "The Rock provided us warmth." They pointed at the bald Fraggles. "If the bald Fraggles, who all complain that they suffer more from the cold, want to complain about the gifts of the Rock, then let them! _We_'_re_ going to wander the tunnels and look for adventures – _keeping warm_." With that, they stormed out.

"Do you want me to return them?" asked Sir Blunderbrain.

"No," replied the Princess. "The tunnels belong to Blundig. Maybe she can talk some sense into them. She's good at that sort of thing." She glanced at her knight. "Besides, as Leader I protect the Rock – I don't live Fraggles' lives for them, Sir Blunderbrain."

Just as Princess Gwenalot headed out of the Great Hall, she was stopped by two tiny toddling Fraggles, one with bright gold skin and one with dark gray skin. They were so encased in clothes they had to speak before the Princess could even tell what gender they were.

The gold one spoke first in a female voice. "Are you the Leader?" The Princess nodded. The toddler continued. "My brother won't stop picking on me. Make him stop!" she demanded as she shouldered the gray one, who shoved her back.

The Princess pried them apart. "How old are you?"

They held out one finger.

Princess Gwenalot smiled. "Just that many, huh? You must be the Rock's youngest Fraggles!" She kneeled down beside them and stared deeply into their eyes. "I want you both to work this out on your own, okay?"

"But he won't stop picking on me!"

"Nuh-_uh_, she won't stop!"

The Princess stood up. "You'll get tired of it eventually," she told them coldly and began her long journey back to her cave. Just outside the entrance stood Crooner, who tried to stop her. She shoved her way past him, knowing that his expression betrayed bad news, and saw to her horror that her mirror, that _Mallory_, was missing. Princess Gwenalot stared into his downcast eyes and cried, clutching him tightly before he could even offer an explanation.


	17. Chapter 16

_Chapter 16_

_Remember when,_

_Now and then,_

_Something all went wrong?_

_Mallory, would say to me,_

"_Please be strong."_

Princess Gwenalot continued to clutch at Crooner as she sat on her bed just off the Great Cave, sobbing as she sang the mournful tune. "I can't – I just can't," she pleaded. "I can't be strong, Crooner. She's gone." She started to hit him in his chest. "She's _gone_! She was my _best_ friend! I could tell her _anything_! What could have happened to her?"

Crooner let her sob and hit him and wail and rant. He had made the wish, so now he must be an adult Fraggle and live with the consequences. After all, what did he think was going to happen? Did he honestly expect her to dismiss the loss so easily?

Technically, he didn't think it had been an official wish. The genie hadn't been around – or so he thought. He just let his mouth open before his mind could catch up. The wishing business was clearly more complicated than it sounded in the legends.

Still, there was one wish that didn't seem to have any bad associations. He pulled out the amulet he had tried to give her earlier. She backed away just long enough to see what he had, but she shook her head and declined, sobbing some more, raining tears upon the small jeweled amulet.

He sighed silently to himself. Maybe this wish also had its downside. It was the perfect gift … but he couldn't seem to give it to her.

"Hooba," offered a quiet, dreamy female voice. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

Crooner smiled and shook his head as Princess Gwenalot sought to hurry and wipe away her tears. "Hooba, Blundig," he greeted her. "It's quite warm in these caves. Feel free to gobo and place it on the boom-boom over there in the corner."

Blundig stared at the Princess but bowed and took off her light blue cap and hung it on a small hatrack. "Princess, are you okay?"

"No," she replied, bawling again, "my life is _over_! I'll never be happy _again_!"

Crooner stood. "I'll leave."

Blundig stretched out her palm to stop him. "Please, I won't take up too much time." She walked over to the Princess and kneeled. "No one was seriously hurt in the Great Cave or the Tunnels, Your Highness," she informed. "The Crystals in the Crystal Cavern were barely affected. Some Fraggles are disgusted by all the mud lying around and some enjoy its warmth."

"I noticed," the Princess replied quietly, not wanting to trouble Blundig with the argument she had with Fishface.

Blundig continued. "The Great Freeze was supposed to occur next week, but it seems if the warm mud continues to heat Fraggle Rock, it might be postponed until early next year." She gulped. "I must admit," she said softly with a bit of fear in her voice, "it scares me to think of what the consequences might be of postponing the Great Freeze." She looked up at her Princess. "While the bells waken the sleeping Rock, that still leaves the honoring of the sacred Weeba. No one seems to know of any penalties, but I fear that not honoring the Weeba beast might upset the spirit of the Rock."

Princess Gwenalot seemed to gain control of herself. She shrugged. "I don't see why we need to separate it from the rest of the ritual. It can wait until we ring the bells when the Great Freeze comes."

Blundig looked away, her tail sweeping absent-mindedly across the floor. "I have … a further request, Princess."

"What is it?"

She looked down. "I wish to take some time to be alone. I am greatly concerned, not only about the rituals being postponed, but also other things that … might affect our future."

Princess Gwenalot's attention was now entirely devoted to Blundig, forgetting that Crooner was even there. "What are your concerns? You can tell me, you know. We must be able to work together."

Blundig shook her head. "Not for this. I apologize, milady, but I need to document everything that has happened so far."

"Is that all?"

"Yes," Blundig replied, not wanting to admit to more … _personal_ reasons to leave the Great Hole.

The Princess placed her hands gently on Blundig's shoulders and smiled warmly. "You have been such a great help to us, Blundig. You are truly legendary. I shall watch over the Tunnels for you. Take as much time as you need." She wanted to ask if she knew about her argument with Fishface, but she was unsure just how close they were. Blundig didn't seem to be in a relationship with him … but she wasn't denying it, either. As Princess, she could order Blundig to tell her, but that would be impolite. It was really none of her business, after all. Still, it bothered her to see this dreamy and idealistic Fraggle suddenly run off with her tail between her legs.

**Author's Note: Song is rewritten Fraggle Rock's "Friendship Song", which I don't own.**


	18. Chapter 17

_Chapter 17_

A little over a month had passed, bringing in the new year without the usual Festival of the Bells, which was designed to awaken the sleeping Fraggle Rock's heart. However, the mud was still warm in most of the caves and tunnels, so the Rock never truly went to sleep.

Princess Gwenalot was finally starting to overcome her sadness at losing Mallory, since watching over the Tunnels kept her busier. She was glad she had that treaty with the Doozers. They were excellent watchers, keeping track of any dangerous goings-on. Fortunately, there had been no real consequence for not honoring the Weeba beast. In fact, it was rather quiet.

Rather _dull_, actually.

The Princess practiced her sword-swinging to keep in shape.

"Whoa!" a small voice squealed. Her sword just barely grazed the light green cap of a stout light-green Fraggle with a bulbous nose, rather reminiscent of Sir Blunderbrain's.

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Princess Gwenalot, tossing her sword behind her. "I didn't hurt you, I hope?"

The small Fraggle shook his head slightly. His head seemed to connect directly to his torso. He held his hand to his palpitating heart. He stared at the sword, then glanced at the Princess. "H-h-hooba."

She smiled. "Hooba," she replied. "Is there anything I can get you? You're a long way from the Great Hole."

"Th-thank y-you, P-Princess," he stuttered. He paused until he could calm down. Inhaling deeply, he continued, "I don't mean to bother you – but could I stay with you for a little while? With Blundig gone and everything, I have nothing to do." Before the Princess could mention Fishface's name, he said, "Our Assistant Leader Fishface is busy trying to clean up the Great Hole. The mud is cooling there faster than in other places. The icy cold from the, well, the 'Great Hole' is drying the mud." He unceremoniously plopped himself on her bed. "I just want to see what other places are like."

"Are you comfortable?" asked Princess Gwenalot in an amused tone.

"Yes, it's very warm," answered the Fraggle sincerely.

She smiled. "Do you have any friends?"

He nodded as he stared at her ceiling. "Roughchin is one my _best_ friends, Princess," he told her. He sat up, rubbing his hands together, looking down. "But all he wants to do is polish metal. He does it day in and day out. He's stopped dancing, he's stopped checking the pipes that come down from the Great Hole … he's stopped doing anything that's fun." He sighed and flopped himself back onto the bed. "He's _boring_."

"Well, I've heard a strange tale of Fraggles who found a special pond and became enchanted by its waters," offered Princess Gwenalot. "We could go try to discover that pond."

"What if we get enchanted?" he asked timidly.

"Pffbt," she retorted. "What's the worst that could happen?"

His eyes grew wider as he shivered. "We could grow _fins_," he whispered. He stared at his kicking feet. "I don't look good in scales."

"Well, you could help me find Mallory. She's an enchanted mirror. I've lost her and while we're looking, you'd learn something about this side of Fraggle Rock while you're at it." She paused. "I apologize. I just realized I don't know your name."

"Oh! I am called No-Neck. I was hit on the head with a falling boulder when I was younger." He patted his head with a smirk. "At least I don't suffer from neck cricks anymore," he chuckled cheerfully.

For a long month, they searched high and low. However, they never could find Mallory. Some Fraggles had heard of a talking mirror, but usually it turned out they were thinking of seeing Mallory before she was lost. Some heard she had disappeared, which was completely unhelpful.

Still others didn't know what a mirror was.

Princess Gwenalot started to feel sad again. She sat down on a large boulder and sighed deeply.

No-Neck patted her on the back sympathetically. "It's sad when friends aren't friends anymore."

The Princess glanced at him and smiled. "I'm getting upset over nothing, No-Neck."

"You are?"

She nodded. "Even if she's truly gone, she's still my best friend."

He stared at the ground for a few moments. "Does – does that mean that Roughchin is still my friend, even though he won't work or play with me?"

"Perhaps so."

"Princess?"

"Yes, No-Neck," she told him. "You can go back to the Great Hole and see for yourself."


	19. Chapter 18

_Chapter 18_

It was the beginning of the third month since the usual time of the Great Freeze. Princess Gwenalot had noticed a few Fraggle families on edge. Maybe it was the unseasonal weather, she mused to herself. She gathered some mushrooms one morning and Sir Blunderbrain appeared and snuck some from the pile she was accumulating behind her.

"Hey!" she shouted with mock anger.

He smiled. "Admit it, fair maiden. You are just as bored as I."

"Does it show?"

He nodded. "There is talk of disappearing Fraggles. I wanted to know if --."

"I have to watch the Great Cave _and_ the Tunnels, Sir Knight," Princess Gwenalot informed him bluntly. She stood and gave him a sword.

He looked at it questioningly.

"I have another in my cave," said the Princess. "Take it. Find out what happened to those missing Fraggles."

He bowed deeply. "I will only use this sword to protect the lives of Fraggles everywhere, milady."

He left and Princess Gwenalot finished gathering mushrooms. She soon discovered the worried Fraggles huddling in the middle of the Great Cave and gave them the mushrooms. She told them she had sent the brave Sir Blunderbrain to locate their loved ones. They thanked her and smiled wearily. After all, they had all the confidence they needed, since Sir Blunderbrain was known to have successfully protected the Princess from evil and stopped the genie from continuing his hunt of all Fraggle-kind.

Three days later, Princess Gwenalot heard a celebration in the Great Cave. She rushed and saw several Fraggles, looking exhausted and ragged. They were being congratulated by their now excited relatives and friends.

"What's going on?"

"They've returned!" the Fraggles shouted with glee.

One of the weary Fraggles kneeled in front of the Princess and hung his head, his tail drooping. "Milady, we ran from a terrible beast with blue scales and a long thick tail and sharp teeth. We ran until we found a long tunnel. Suddenly, the tunnel's wall opened and we were all sucked inside, never to see light again."

"You're free now, that's the important thing," Princess Gwenalot told them, smiling. "Did you see Sir Blunderbrain?"

They stared at the ground. The whole cave took on a somber tone.

"Milady, he fought the tunnel bravely. He … he will … not … be returning to us, milady."


	20. Chapter 19

_Chapter 19_

Princess Gwenalot started towards a long cave a day's distance from the Great Cave in silence. She hadn't expected the loss of Sir Blunderbrain to affect her as much as it was, but there was no denying that she would miss him. He wasn't her best friend, like Mallory, but he had been loyal and able to criticize her with a smile … somewhat like Blundig. Princess Gwenalot appreciated the fact that they didn't act angry when they didn't like something she did.

Soon Crooner appeared in his white cape, his guitar slung over one shoulder and the Magic Pipe in his right hand. He smiled at her. "I thought you might like some company and some help."

"I can do this by myself," she told him cheerfully. "I don't need any help. It's just a dragon."

Crooner's face fell. "It eats Fraggles."

The Princess laughed, holding her knees and squinting in pain as she laughed so hard. "Just because some scaredy Fraggles ran away from some little dragon doesn't mean it actually eats Fraggles," she replied through guffaws. "Come on, Crooner. You know better than that."

He smirked. "Then why are you bringing your last sword?"

The Princess stopped laughing and glanced at it. "Huh? Oh, well, I might need it to hack away at some vines or something, I guess."

"Uh-huh," Crooner answered with a droll tone. "You know, this pipe can make vines untangle and leave. Let me come with you."

"Crooner," Princess Gwenalot began, exasperated, "why do you want to come?"

"Because I want to be with you!" he retorted, grimacing. "You let Blunderbrain --."

"Don't mention him!" she shot back. She looked away, her voice softening. "He's gone."

Crooner stared at the Princess for several moments in silence. Soon he had an epiphany. "You think the dragon got him?" He nodded. "You're not thinking of revenge, are you?"

She continued to avoid his gaze. "I don't know exactly. The story seems to be a tunnel ate him, but that's stupid." She paused, her voice slightly trembling. "I sent him."

"He always knew he'd leave the world in battle. That's how knights are, Gwen."

"I sent him," she repeated numbly.

Crooner stepped closer and gently placed an arm around her. "You sent him to rescue the missing Fraggles. He succeeded. He deserves our respect and our thanks." He kissed her helmet. "You don't have to throw your life away out of guilt."

She chuckled, surprising him. She backed away and wiped a tear from her eyes. "Yes, I felt guilty. I guess I still might." She shook her head. "That's not why I wanted to go find the dragon. I'm a lot like Sir Blunderbrain, I suppose. I like the thrill of adventure, the excitement of discovering new creatures, the rush of battle --."

"You _like_ fighting?" Crooner asked, confused.

"It's all just play," Princess Gwenalot replied as though talking to a toddler. "I don't want to hurt any Fraggle."

"That's not a prop sword, Gwen," Crooner told her coldly. "The blade is sharp."

Princess Gwenalot sighed in frustration. "I _know_ what a real sword is, Crooner! You need to give me _some_ credit!" She pointed at him. "You can make any Fraggle do whatever you want with that pipe of yours. Just because it's not a sword doesn't mean it can't be a weapon."

"But --."

"No 'buts'," she retorted. "You act like I was born yesterday. You do it all the time! I may not be some sacred Minstrel, but I also have a brain. It's one thing to suggest an alternative to my solutions. It's quite another to act like I can't make _any_ solution whatsoever."

"I don't --."

A female voice cleared her throat. They both turned to Blundig, who stood behind the Princess.

"Blundig?" noted Princess Gwenalot in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to assist my Princess --."

"_Why does everyone think I can't handle a simple dragon_?" screamed Princess Gwenalot.

"No no!" replied Blundig, bowing slightly. "I imply no such thing! I have information regarding the dragon!" She crept up closer to the Princess and glanced at Crooner. "The sacred Minstrel's music might still the heart of the rampaging dragon, but it also calms Fraggles. There are far more Fraggles to calm than dragons to discover. Everyone seems so stressed out lately. If the Minstrel would be so kind as to calm the Fraggles, it would prevent our fair maiden from being harmed because frightened Fraggles got between her and the dragon's rage."

Crooner smirked slightly. He admired Blundig's diplomatic skills. He was bright enough to see right through them, of course, but he never left her unimpressed. She wanted to spend time with the Princess to see if she was okay with Sir Blunderbrain's disappearance … yet she still had a point. Crooner _would_ be of more use keeping Fraggles occupied, since he could also tell everyone was starting to feel … on edge … recently. He bowed and left without a word.

As the Princess followed Blundig, the Princess struck up a conversation. "So, how's all that documentation going?"

Blundig smiled. "Hm, it's progressing nicely, I think."

The Princess stopped. "Are you here to check up on me?"

Blundig stopped and glanced at her innocently. "How do you mean? Do you need a check up?"

"Pffbt, no."

Blundig smiled. "Well, then why did you bring it up?"

Princess Gwenalot started to walk again. "Crooner acts like I'm holed up in my room mourning the loss of my friends all day long."

Blundig nodded. "I thought he was more perceptive than that. Something must weigh heavily on him if he is so inaccurate regarding his beliefs."

The Princess stared at Blundig as they headed down a tunnel that acted like a downward staircase. "He wants to be with me every waking moment. _That's_ his problem."

Blundig smiled and stopped. "He defines 'uniting Fraggles' more personally, then?"

Princess Gwenalot returned the smile. "Males are always redefining things to suit them."

They shared a round of giggles.

Soon Blundig stopped and averted her eyes slightly. "It … must … be frustrating," she said softly and wistfully.

Princess Gwenalot found she could not answer. Her instincts had been right: they were having similar problems. She silently patted Blundig on her shoulders. Still, she would not talk about Fishface unless Blundig brought it up first.

A roar nearly deafened them as they appeared in an amazingly long tunnel, porous with countless side tunnels.

Hunched over on a boulder sat a dragon with rocky light blue skin, tendrils drooping from its snout, thick arms and even thicker legs, a dark red crest along his skull and spine, and flame-like scales emanating from what looked like manacles on his wrists. His soft yellow underbelly matched the yellow of his eyes.

"He's hardly bigger than a Fraggle," whispered Princess Gwenalot, disappointed.

Blundig nodded. "He is very hungry."


	21. Chapter 20

_Chapter 20_

"The dragon has been roaring and chasing Fraggles with a hungry look in his eyes," Blundig told the Princess quietly as they observed it from the safety of a rock column.

"So it really _does_ eat Fraggles?" whispered the Princess.

Blundig smiled. "I've been watching it for a couple of hours now. It has been chasing and roaring – but I haven't seen it _eating_ anything."

Princess Gwenalot patted her sword. "How do you want to go about this?"

Blundig frowned and glared at her. "We're not harming a creature we know nothing about."

The Princess returned the glare. "I didn't say we were. If he's hungry and he hasn't eaten anything, then it's obvious there's nothing here he … or she … can eat. We need to return it to its food source."

Blundig nodded cheerfully.

The Princess unsheathed her sword. "You figure out where that is, while I keep it busy." With that, she ran toward the dragon, screaming her head off, brandishing the brightly polished sword with glee.

The dragon perked up and stumbled backward, terrified of the creature and its weapon. It dashed along the tunnel floor, weaving in and out of the rocky spikes jutting up. Princess Gwenalot hopped nimbly onto a ledge and brought her sword down just in front of it, sparking the floor as metal hit rock. The dragon snapped its jaws, its bright white teeth gleaming. Princess Gwenalot circled around took a swipe, which only served to back up the dragon into a set of columns from which it would be hard to escape. It reared back, the red scales on its wrists glowing, and forcefully exhaled a strong bright orange flame.

"Oh, ho!" cried the Princess. "A _fire-breathing_ dragon! A challenge I can relish at last!" She dusted her smoldering fur and acted like she was going to go around the columns to pin its tail with her sword. The dragon took the opportunity to run, but the Princess spun her heels and rejoined the dragon and thrust her mighty blade towards it. It clanged on a boulder as it nimbly dodged, though out of instinct more than will. _That was too close_, thought the Princess to herself.

The dragon screamed and whipped around and its tail managed to connect, sending Princess Gwenalot across the tunnel. She flipped and landed and rushed back to the dragon, who tried to dash towards the tunnel from whence the two furry attackers had come.

"Here!" cried Blundig.

Princess Gwenalot hopped and dashed and jumped clear over the dragon's head and spun around, kicking the dragon in its stomach with a large "oomph". She used her sword to herd it over to a tunnel that began to cast a strange green glow. The dragon stumbled backwards and disappeared in the tunnel.

Princess Gwenalot panted as she plopped down on the ground in front of Blundig. "Well, I think that's enough exercise today," she said happily. "What made you think that was the right place?" she asked, noticing that the dragon had not yet reappeared.

Blundig looked into the tunnel, which no longer glowed. "If the good Princess read more legends, she'd know these things," she teased.

The young royal Fraggle laughed. "That's why I have great Fraggle friends like _you_, Blundig."

Blundig's face fell. "The time has come, my Princess."

Princess Gwenalot stood and looked at her quizzically. "Don't tell me you're leaving."

Blundig nodded. "I request of my Princess that she tell Fishface that I will return someday, when he doesn't feel so threatened."

"Blundig," gasped the Princess.

"Please do this for me … Gwen."

The Princess held back her tears and nodded. "I will. I hope you return safely." As Blundig started to leave, she added, "At least take No-neck with you. He really wants to learn more about all of Fraggle Rock. And it's nice … to have great companions."

Blundig stopped. Without looking, she said, "Maybe Roughchin would like to come as well. I understand he's been isolating himself from the others lately. A little exploration wouldn't hurt." She walked away and Princess Gwenalot walked up a tunnel back towards the Great Cave.

Back at the Great Cave, Crooner met the Princess and hugged her. He sniffed and stood back. "What did you do? Jump into a bonfire?"

She smirked. "Your concern knows no limits," she teased. She turned to a bunch of waiting Fraggles and grinned, thrusting up her sword. "The dragon has been contained!" she proclaimed loudly, her words echoing throughout the tunnels.


	22. Chapter 21

_Chapter 21_

"She left for good, then?" Crooner asked the Princess. She nodded. He continued, "Let me go tell Fishface. You know what kind of a mood he's been in. It makes all those bald Fraggles irritable this time of year. I'm a respected member of Fraggledom. He'll listen to me."

"I'm not?" asked Princess Gwenalot.

"You are the leader … and Fishface doesn't like you," Crooner stated bluntly. "Let me smooth things over."

"Okay, just hurry back," she said before returning to her cave.

Crooner walked into the Great Hall with surprise. The mud was nearly all cleaned up.

And yet he wasn't cold.

"Great Hole no longer make icy wind," Fishface informed the Minstrel from behind. He stepped forward and waved his arms as bald Fraggles and hairy Fraggles alike made decorations for their bodies and for the cave. "Festival did not happen. Fishface say this bad idea. Blundig say it."

"Yeah, about Blundig," Crooner began, "she's left the Rock."

Fishface stared at the Minstrel in shock. "She … go to live in Great Cave?"

Crooner shook his head. "We don't know where she went. She only wanted to tell you that she'll be back later."

Fishface walked over to a large chair in the center of the Great Hole and sat down, staring at the floor. Several nearby Fraggles started to inch away from him. After several silent moments, the large cave was nearly devoid of Fraggles except Fishface and Crooner. Soon, Fishface remarked bitterly, "Fishface always see Minstrel as stupid for loving idle Princess. She not listen to Minstrel. She not keep order in all of Fraggle Rock. Fishface do all these things. Fishface is better leader." He paused, clenching the armrests of his chair. "Why Blundig _leave_?"

"Did you tell that you loved her?" he asked.

Fishface glanced up, not moving. "How it work for Minstrel when _he_ do it?" he muttered through gritted teeth.

Crooner blushed and looked away, smirking. "Not as well as I'd hoped."

"Then save lecture for someone who care."

Crooner stood closer to the bald Fraggle leader. "The Princess actually _wants_ you to succeed as leader, you know."

"Is that so?"

Crooner sighed. "Yes, it's so." He sat nearby. "She's been testing you to see how you stack up to her. She needs to know that if she stops being Princess, you'd be there to take over."

Fishface glared at him. "Princess can stop being Leader any time," he replied in cold disbelief. "What does Fishface have to do with it?"

"Why don't you think she's cracked the Blue Rock?" he growled. "You gave her a simple ultimatum … one that _I _suggested. She doesn't belong as Leader. The fact she's never accomplished such a simple task shows she doesn't think she can prove how great she is. You, on the other hand, know your way around a command. You speak and Fraggles listen. I admire that. The Princess treats leadership like some childish game."

"In this," retorted Fishface, "Princess and Minstrel are alike."

"I deserve better than that," Crooner shot back in a low tone. "I take my job seriously. I'm just a glorified song collector. It's not that hard a job, Fishface. 'Leader', though, _is_ a job filled with nothing but trials and tribulations. She isn't facing up to her supposed responsibilities. It's time she either face her destiny or choose a new one."

"With you."

Crooner stood up. He wanted to slap Fishface hard enough to send him into tomorrow. He clenched his fists. "Save the lectures for someone who cares," he told him. "The day you get Blundig is the day you can instruct me on the ways of love."


	23. Chapter 22

_Chapter 22_

"Sir, may I go now," piped a baritone to Fishface's left. Fishface looked over and saw Roughchin standing there. Roughchin continued, "I've finished. I … I need some time alone."

"Roughchin always alone lately," Fishface told him. He paused. "Anyone else know about new job of Roughchin?"

Roughchin trembled and shook his head.

Fishface smiled. "Princess not only one to have metal in room." He patted Roughchin on the head. "Roughchin hard worker. Fishface honor him with time off."

"Thank you," Roughchin exclaimed with relief. "I just want some time to meditate and calm my nerves."

Fishface nodded. "Yes. Go. Hard work deserves hard rest."

After Roughchin left, Fishface walked out of the Great Hole and headed toward a cave with half a ceiling, the far end of the cave being just a rock-lined ledge over a wide chasm. As he walked, he wondered if Blundig had started to hate the ways of the bald Fraggles. Bald Fraggles had to work harder than the others. This bred good diligence and honesty.

Blundig had always had a habit of saying lots of important words to trick Fraggles into getting her way. She was very good at it. He could tell it impressed Crooner as well. Fishface despised such talk. The way to ensure honesty was to keep one's sentences simple. The more words spoken, the more chances a Fraggle had to pull the wool over your eyes.

Sometimes he wondered who was better at convincing, Blundig or that infernal Minstrel.

Fishface stood at the entrance to the cave, watching as Fraggles finished up driving bamboo posts into several nooks. It would make an excellent prison, he thought to himself.

He stared at the two holding cells.

He could name several Fraggles he'd like to see there.

Fishface smiled as he returned to the Great Hole, humming briefly.


	24. Chapter 23

_Chapter 23_

"Stop it!"

"No, _you_ stop it!"

A gaggle of hairy Fraggles stomped up to Fishface's large chair and started to yell. "We're sick and tired of being teased for having hair!"

"Maybe hairy Fraggles leave," replied Fishface, resting his chin on his clasped hands.

A few bald Fraggles snickered.

"Take them away!" Fishface barked, shocking the snickering Fraggles. He glared at everyone. "Fraggle laugh – Fraggle imprisoned or _banished_." He pounded his chest. "Fishface keep Fraggles safe from genie. No laughing!"

"We're going to tell the Princess about this outrage!" declared the hairy Fraggles. As they turned, Fishface tripped them with his tail, making laughter ring.

Fishface declared all who laughed would be banished forever. "No control – no safety!" he announced. "Fraggles chant to drive away bad luck." He looked around as everyone stared at him. "NOW!"

They started to chant and do random tasks that Fishface bade them just to prove who was boss.

"It's Blundig!" shouted one Fraggle, making everyone stop in their tracks. Indeed, Blundig was back, sporting a triple-sun medallion topped with a bright emerald. She was joined by Roughchin and No-Neck.

Fishface glared at her. She had not left the Great Hole in such a cheerful mood. Could she have truly come back to make amends? He tried to goad her into saying something … _anything_ … about why she left, but to no avail. She seemed to have utterly forgotten everything they had talked about. He tried to give her a simple enough task, but she seemed at a loss.

Though she consulted the Legendary Rum-poop. At least _that_ hadn't changed.

However, after a few hours, his patience had run out. He ordered all three to be imprisoned. He was surprised to see that they freed themselves, though he was also glad. He had started to regret it just as soon as he had ordered it, for he didn't want to let Blundig know about Roughchin's job, and he was likely to tell her if he had suffered imprisonment for long.

Even more shocking, Blundig suggested that leaders become obsolete and revealed she had hair. That was not exactly what Fishface had wanted to hear, but in a way, he was glad: she was apparently declaring that the most important thing was to enjoy life _together_. It's what he wanted, even more than being Leader, even more than shaming the Princess. She and No-Neck and Roughchin soon walked away, and Fishface stayed right where he was, waiting for to return from unpacking in her room.

Still, the fact that she had kept her hair from him disturbed him greatly. He had never seen her without her cap on, to his dismay, but the thought that she had blue-green shoulder-length hair that appeared silver in a certain light made him shudder. What was even worse, was that it explained her liking of that foolish Princess.

Fishface waited for an hour, finally deciding to track her down. He ended up in a small cave with a drawing of a hairy Fraggle with upturned hands that seemed to mock him.

He stared at it for several hours in complete silence. The figure seemed to laugh at him. It seemed so unlike the Blundig he knew – but she _had_ acted strangely. Could that frustrating Minstrel have done something to her? Fishface wasn't stupid – he _knew_ Crooner could be very manipulating. He realized that Crooner only wanted the Princess to leave her post so that they could be together in their laziness. If it weren't for the fact that Fishface wanted her gone too, he'd never have agreed to collaborate with him.

As he sat there, a wailing moan started to appear. He shuddered again, realizing that it was getting colder.

The walls started to frost over, the wind chilled him, and ice started forming on his nose.

The angrier he got, mulling over his misfortunes, the harsher winter returned.

If he cannot have Blundig …

… he will _lead_.


	25. Chapter 24

_Chapter 24_

The two toddlers ran to keep up with their parents, who had been banished for laughing. At least running kept them warm. The Fraggles who had been banished were at least glad that they were away from Fishface: his expression as the cold returned shook them far worse than bad weather.

The golden-skinned girl glanced at her dark gray-skinned brother. "I thought those things were toys."

The dark-skinned brother kept going. "They must be grown-up toys."

"Grown-up toys scare me," she whispered.

The brother scoffed. "You just don't like what's fun."

Fishface, meanwhile, watched intently as Fraggles positioned swords, cannons, and shields along the entrances of the Great Hole.

An elderly Fraggle female with beads draped around her neck. "Fishface," she began, "the Princess comes with 'weapons'." He glanced at her in silence. Unperturbed, she continued, "She's not coming to help, is she?"

He shook his head.

He wanted her to come. He didn't care if she had weapons too. He didn't care how she obtained them. She brought weapons to the Rock first. From the very first time they met, he saw the swords in her room. If they were just for amusement – why did she have _two_?


	26. Chapter 25

_Chapter 25_

Fraggles surrounded the bound Princess, all wearing thick robes, as they entered the Great Hole. Fishface sat in his large chair, glaring at her with a creepy calm expression. Princess Gwenalot stood defiantly before him. "What kind of Fraggle are you?" she asked softly.

Fishface sat motionless. "A Fraggle that knows Princess had weapons first," he replied coldly.

"They were for cutting vines and stuff!" she shouted angrily.

"And yet you come with more?"

"Fishface, for Rock's sake!" she pleaded. "You're smarter than this!" She maintained her glare, though tears were starting to well up in her eyes. "Yes, I get it: bald Fraggles suffer more in the cold. Take the Great Cave. We hairy Fraggles can withstand the cold coming from the Great Hole."

"Did Blundig tell you this, or Minstrel?"

She shook her head and growled. "I'm _not_ an idiot, Fishface! I don't require someone else to tell me how to solve a problem. Yes, sometimes I need help – but that doesn't mean I'm not without my strengths, too."

A nearly debilitating wind threatened to freeze them all to their places as they stood in the Great Hole.

She kneeled, her lips trembling both from the cold and from crying. "Fishface, I'm … I'm truly _sorry_. I should have let the Festival of the Bells continue at their appointed time. It threw off the entire rhythm of the Rock. Let's use our bells and honor that sacred Weeba beast and calm its spirit."

Fishface stood and towered over her. "Weeba beast cannot be calmed. In ancient days, Weeba run Rock. Weeba destroyed because they run Rock. Now all who dishonor them suffer. The bells are metal. Metal now in weapons."

"You did _what_?" Princess Gwenalot exclaimed. "How could you do such an incredibly _ignorant_ thing like _that_? Swords don't waken the Rock, you moron!"

"Fishface not one who put Rock to sleep, _Princess_!"

All the Fraggles began to argue, picking up weapons (and griping about how cold the metal was against their skin). A horde of hairy Fraggles appeared with their own weapons and concentrated all the bald Fraggles right underneath the Great Hole, the cold sapping the bald Fraggles' strength.

"I will not give up," Fishface explained.

Princess Gwenalot sobbed, though she told him defiantly. "And I won't give up on the spirit of the Rock."

A click. Someone had pulled a trigger.

Another click.

Grunting followed as Fraggles tried to throw metallic objects that were now stuck to their hands.

Everyone glanced around in shock as they nearly froze in place.

The weapons would not work.

The Rock grew still.

Princess Gwenalot felt a light within her. "_La_ la la _la_, la la _la_ la la _la_, la la _la_ la la _la_ la la _la_," she sang timidly.

Other Fraggles started to sing with her, "_Ding_ ding dong _ding_, ding dong _ding_ ding dong _ding_, ding dong _ding_ ding dong _ding _ding dong _ding_."

Still other Fraggles started to clang the swords and other metal weapons against the cannons and against the boulders and the ice, creating a medley of ringing that sounded a little strange, but it was almost as if one could hear the spirits of the bells whispering from the cold metal.

As the Fraggles continued to sing, the ice started to drip and glow from beneath. The whole of Fraggle Rock sparkled as the melodies traveled far and wide.

Deep inside the Crystal Cavern, the crystals had begun to crack, but those cracks soon healed, leaving a dazzling light show to fill the room.

Far from any Fraggle, in the misty darkness of the Terrible Tunnel that consumed Sir Blunderbrain, the relaxed knight hummed the melody he could sense through the rocks.

The ropes binding Princess Gwenalot snapped. She stood and faced Fishface. "I never want to see these ugly things again," she told him. "All the little stuff can be remade back into bells, to protect our future."

Fishface let a single tear fall. "Big weapons hide, never to be seen again."

"Agreed," the Princess told him, hugging him. A small smile cracked from his lips.


	27. Chapter 26

_Chapter 26_

"Watch it!"

"Move it over there!"

"No, the _other_ left!"

As scores of hairy Fraggles moved into their new homes, Princess Gwenalot threw flower garlands over the large arch near the Fraggle Pond.

"Excuse me," a small baritone voice said from behind the Princess. She looked down to find Roughchin, who seemed a bit confused. "What ha-happened t-to Fi-Fishface?" he stuttered, terrified that Fishface's insistence of war led to something dreadfully awful – and it would be all his fault.

"Hooba, Roughchin," greeted the Princess calmly. "He and your fellow Fraggles decided to move to the Great Cave where it's warmer and they don't have to worry about getting so cold."

He sighed, sitting down from the sudden lack of stress. "Thank goodness," he said. "I was afraid something bad had happened. He wasn't in a good mood before." He didn't want her to know about his role in the weapons stash – but did she already know? "I decided to come back from my meditation when everything turned cold and then warm again."

She smiled and nodded. "The rhythm of the Rock is working just fine again," she told him. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Do you mind doing something for me?"

He nodded, then shook his head. "Uh, which one means I'm willing to do what you ask?"

She giggled. "Never mind. I need you to help us make all sorts of weapons back into bells."

He looked up at her. "You … you _do_?"

She nodded. "Fishface and I decided that bells sound better than banging and clanging swords. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

"I would of course do anything my Princess commanded," he told her, bowing low to the ground. His cap fell off and a dark red fuzz showed on his scalp.

Princess Gwenalot squeaked and jumped back. "I – I thought you were _bald_!"

Roughchin hurriedly replaced his cap and smirked sheepishly. "Fishface was terrified of hair spiders," he told her with a chuckle. "Bald Fraggles aren't really bald at all. We just shaved every day." He sighed. "Princess? After I fix the bells, can we never mention weapons again?"

"Of course," she replied.

"Oh, here," he continued, pulling a small rectangular blue piece of cloth from underneath his robe. "I forgot. I found this on my meditation retreat." He handed it to her.

She stared at it in shock. "This – this is my _invisibility_ cloak!" she gasped, eyes wide. She looked up and locked her arms around him. "It's my good luck charm!"

He patted her on the back, straining to breathe from over-zealous hugging. "Uh, yes … may we all have good luck from … now … on."


	28. Chapter 27

_Chapter 27_

Princess Gwenalot awoke with a start as Fraggles started jumping into the pond, showering her with water. It was the first day of the fourth month of the new year, and she found she enjoyed just going to sleep under the moonlight each night. Unlike everything that had happened before, the tranquility of the moon was a welcome sight.

Today was the day she would go to the Blue Rock. It didn't seem that important to her anymore, since no one really felt the need to treat her like royalty lately. To be perfectly honest, she just wanted to be a regular Fraggle for awhile, to disappear in the throngs of Fraggles. Leading had not been all her parents had made it out to be. A Fraggle here and there would still ask for her advice, but everyone could sense she didn't want to be leader at the moment. After the war, no one really wanted one, either.

Still, Gwen had decided that since she postponed the Festival of the Bells and that ended up badly, maybe she shouldn't have postponed going to the Blue Rock either. Maybe she wouldn't … maybe she wouldn't have lost all of her friends lately had she just faced the music.

As she walked with her cape and her helmet in her arms, her blonde hair tied up in a bun, streaked with red, she thought about Mallory, about Sir Blunderbrain, about Blundig … she wanted to believe they were all still alive, just … changed. After all, they'd be friends still, no matter what.

She spotted some Doozers coming in and out of freshly dug tunnels, carting around piles of white powder. Gwen thought that was strange, though she _had_ noticed that mushrooms had become more plentiful this spring. Perhaps the Doozers had discovered a new material, though she didn't know what could be built with just a handful of powder.

_Bring back the season._

_Bring back the time._

_Bring back the wonder that used to be mine._

_Laughing and splashing, we lived in a glow._

_Bring back the wonder we knew long ago._

_Bring back the wonder we knew long ago._

_Wind on our faces, and race on the lawn,_

_Life was so new it would last on and on._

_I was in love with the soft river flow._

_Bring back the wonder we knew long ago._

_Bring back the wonder we knew long ago._

As Gwen kept walking, she realized she should have been there by now, so she took a nap. She got up later and kept walking. Now she realized that, somehow, she had gotten lost. She couldn't remember which tunnels she had been travelling before.

After a week of this, she finally found herself in a large cave filled with beautiful large red flowers. It was very humid in this cave. One particularly gigantic blossom opened right in front of her, showering her with a pale yellow mist. Coughing and gagging, she ran backwards, stumbling occasionally, slamming her back against the wall of another tunnel.

**Author's Note: I don't own this song from Fraggle Rock either.**


	29. Chapter 28

_Chapter 28_

The frightened young female Fraggle ran as fast as she could, dodging rock formations and skittering past various mammalian and insectoid creatures. Everything seemed so disorienting to her. It was just tunnel after tunnel and cave after cave. The further she ran, the worse she felt. She was certain she was going the wrong way. "Home" was the _other_ way, but she couldn't picture it in her mind.

At long last she fell down a shaft and landed with a hard thud on a hard rock floor. She looked around cautiously, groaning.

"More tunnels," she remarked in desperation. Indeed, it seemed like an infinite amount of tunnels lay all around her. She started to pant from exhaustion, leaning against the arch of a craggly tunnel.

The resulting vacuum took her breath away. She saw a yellow glow and flew backwards, tumbling through the air, until she landed with a thud next to a large desk. All over the strange room were paintings and engravings, all in various stages of completion.

"Wer sind Sie?" asked a rough voice.

The Fraggle looked up, dazed, and saw a pale-skinned bipedal creature, easily perhaps three times her height, wearing a fur-lined brown robe over a white tunic. It had shoulder-length curly brown hair and facial hair around its mouth. Its eyes had brown irises.

Was she going crazy? Not only could she not remember her own name, but this creature spoke some silly gibberish.

"What are you?" she asked timidly.

Its eyes grew wider in shock and it jumped backwards. "Sind Sie eine sprechenratte?" it exclaimed.

"Are … are you calling me a 'rat'?" asked the young Fraggle, an instinctive frown curling her snout downward. "I am _not_ a 'rat'." She sighed. "I just wish I knew what I _was_." She started to sob.

"Sprechenratte," it said again. She determined it must be a male creature by the tone of his voice. He pointed a long pale finger at himself. "Albrecht."

She repeated what she assumed was his name. He nodded. She pointed at herself and shrugged, patting her head gently.

He smiled as though he understood. He picked her up and set her down on a small table, which was warmed by a strong light coming from a window nearby. She curled up and went to sleep underneath the blue cloth in her hands.

For several days the young Fraggle ate the small vegetable and cereal meals the male creature prepared for her, as meat did not seem to suit her very well. With time, she found that each morning she could understand him almost as well as she understood her own speech. He had two names, apparently, "Albrecht" and "Dürer". He seemed very busy each day, painting and carving on paper and wooden blocks.

(How are you feeling today, talking rat)? he asked her as she awoke late one morning.

She smiled in reply. Her head wasn't aching like it was. Perhaps she should have worn that shiny metal helmet when she flew through the tunnel.

(You look better).

She hopped over to his workbench as he etched a design on it, well, started to, anyway. (Why do you cut your pictures)?

(Because), Albrecht noted, (with a painting only the one who has it will enjoy it). He stopped to compare his work with a drawing lying nearby. (With a woodcut, many copies of the drawing can be made, and many can enjoy my work at the same time).

The young Fraggle opened a nearby book and saw a picture like the kind he was making. A cylindrical tent decorated with funny hats opened to reveal a central creature with a crown surrounded by many similar creatures, the two foreground ones holding a long chain in front of the central creature, which Albrecht had said was "woman".

He saw which picture had caught her interest and smiled. ("Folly and her fools") he told her. ("Folly has lavish retinue/the whole world joins it, even you/if you have power and money too"). He nodded. (No matter how bright is the leader, a throng of fools soon appears. This is the meaning of that picture).

For reasons she did not understand, she felt her heart drop at the explanation. Why should she feel sad? Did she experience this herself? Perhaps she was once a leader as well.

She couldn't stand it any longer. (I have to go), she said with certainty. (I have to see if I have friends or family).

He nodded. (You should take some food with you. I wish you well, talking rat).

She jumped down on the floor, grasping her helmet and cloth tightly, and entered a small hole that had appeared when she flew out of the wall. The tunnel walls glittered and seemed to sing to her, guiding her back to where she belonged.


	30. Chapter 29

_Chapter 29_

After several hours of walking, listening to the song of the glittery lights and passing thin clear-white sticks forming a bridge across some ledges along the walls, she ended up in a dark tunnel with a large sapphire-looking stone set at the very end. She leaned against the tunnel walls (after testing it with the end of her tail to make sure she didn't fly away again) and sighed, stretching her feet, intending to take a nap.

"Hey!" a male voice shouted. She jumped up two feet in the air out of sheer surprise and glanced around until the speaker became clear. He was a creature like her, with green skin instead of gold and slightly ruffled slick-backed black hair. He had a stringed instrument slung around his shoulder. "I've been searching the _entire_ Rock for you!"

"Why?" she asked innocently.

He stepped back. What kind of a reply was _that_? "Because … because I'm in love with you," he told her finally.

She laughed and rubbed her sore bottom. "Why should I be in love with you? I don't even _know_ you!"

He hung his head. "I deserve that." He sighed. "I asked Fishface to fight you. You said you liked that sort of thing and he seemed willing enough," he explained with tense pain in his voice. "I also wished that you would lose your best friend. I didn't realize it would _actually_ happen, but it did and I can never forgive myself for it." He looked up at her, tears in his eyes. "I've looked into that Blue Rock and I've seen that my wish also made _me_ alone too. I've wanted to love you for so long … but I guess when I made that wish, it meant _I_ wouldn't be your best friend, either." He kneeled. "I can never truly apologize enough," he sobbed.

She stared at him with jaw agape. "I … don't know what to say," she said at last.

"Please forgive me," he begged with clasped hands.

"I would, if I knew who you were," she told him.

"For Rock's sake, I _said_ I was sorry!" he shouted angrily.

She shook her head. "I don't think you're grasping the situation here. I … do … not … know … who … _I_ … am … much … less … who … _you_ … are."

"You're telling me you don't even know your name?" he asked in disbelief.

She moaned in frustration. "Albrecht was right: folly _is_ surrounded by fools." She cupped her hands around her snout. "_I don't remember who I am_! How clear do I have to _be_?"

The male Fraggle stood up and placed a small emerald amulet in her hands.

She stared at it for several moments, seeing her reflection in the large stone that was almost the size of her palm. She could see the male Fraggle as well, who looked as though a boulder had just fallen on his tail.

"C-C-Crooner," she whispered. She paused. "I'm – I'm Gwen and you're … Crooner." She gazed at him. "I'm a Princess and you're a Minstrel."

He nodded happily.

She glanced over at the Blue Rock. She walked right up to it.

She saw nothing. Supposedly, it showed you what you were most afraid of on the surface, at least, she remembered distantly that Crooner had told her that long ago. There wasn't even a reflection of herself or Crooner. She could see the reflection of the tunnel behind them, but it was like there were no Fraggles staring at the Rock at all.

In a rage, she flung her helmet at it … and found herself behind it. There was nothing there but a small cave barely big enough for a couple of Fraggles. She looked around, but Crooner wasn't with her. Nobody was with her. She turned to see if he were still outside, but he seemed to be gone.

Just like everyone else.

What had she accomplished? She truly _was_ nothing! There had been nothing but pain and resentment in all of Fraggledom, all because she was a Princess. She hadn't protected Fraggles from disappearing. She hadn't stopped true villainy from running rampant throughout the Rock. She had let her best friends down. She had taken the bait of an ambitious Fraggle and let his desire to be the leader nearly destroy the entire population of Fraggles. She did nothing as the rhythm of the Rock changed for the worse.

She was nothing.

Being alone was all her fault.

All of a sudden the sapphire began to glow eerily. She was certain it was going to punish her for being nothing.

And yet …

… she _didn't_ want to be alone.

She took a step toward the Rock as it glowed increasingly brighter.

Above the Great Hall, past the large hole in the ceiling, a loud bawling and screaming could be heard.

Just as suddenly, a female voice could be heard humming a soothing song, like a lullaby.

_Down a dark path through the willow woods,_

_There is a pond where,_

_Dream boats are docked in the cattail reeds,_

_I know, I've been there._

_At the end of the trail,_

_When the last light has failed,_

_You can turn in your day cares,_

_And hoist up your sails._

_Catch a ride out on a dream,_

_No fears, no cares._

_I know, I've been there._

_Wind on the pond strums the lily leaves._

_Stars come, twinkling,_

_Moon on my cheek like a silky sleeve,_

_Starts me to thinking,_

_That the wind wafts and blows,_

_And the pond ebbs and flows,_

_And the moon comes and goes as it pleases to._

_The wind, and the pond, and the moon and me,_

_Dreaming, our dreams._

"Look up at the moon, Junior," it said wearily. "It welcomes you into the universe."

**Author's Note: Again, unless it's an Elvis song, it's one from Fraggle Rock.**


	31. Chapter 30

_Epilogue_

(Yes, this is the Epilogue.)

The yellow female Fraggle with the fiery red pigtails and the red turtleneck sweater stared in shock at the Storyteller. "What do you mean, 'That's it'?" She grabbed the book out of the golden pink-gray-haired Fraggle's hands. "There are _thirty-seven_ books of this series!"

She shrugged. "I … uh … _lost_ the other ones," she stammered, clumsily adjusting her black glasses on the bridge of her snout.

"You're the _Storyteller_!"

"Hey, it's not like I have an infinite amount of shelf space, Red," she shot back. "You can only put so many books in a six-foot-square cave."

Red flopped down on a pile of small square cushions. She sighed, exasperated. "Well, why did the Princess avoid the Minstrel all those times if she was allowed to date him?"

The Storyteller blushed and looked away. "She thought that if she loved him, he'd disappear too."

"But he _did_ leave her at the Blue Rock!" Red protested. She crossed her arms in denial and looked away toward the front door of the Storyteller's cave. "I think that _whole_ part of the story was invented by some lovesick Sto --."

"Finish that sentence and I'll _never_ tell you another story for as long as you live," the Storyteller threatened with a growl.

"_Cantus_ never acted that way," Red muttered under her breath.

"Ahem," the male Fraggle with gray skin and black-gray hair and the purple tux said, coughing nervously. "Every Minstrel," he said with a gravelly voice, "follows their own tune." He chomped on a Doozer stick. "You don't _have_ to make everyone confused to be Minstrel, though it _is_ pretty fun to watch everyone rack their brains trying to figure out what you said," he continued with a smirk.

Red rolled her eyes. "So, why did you drag me in here? I'm not the only fan of Princess Gwenalot stories. I've got Lou readin' 'em now."

The Storyteller glanced at the male Fraggle. "You wanna tell her, John, or should I?"

He nodded towards the Storyteller, leaning back casually. "You're the one he gave it to, toots."

She pointed a finger at him, glaring. "I _told_ you --." She cleared her throat and dug under a pile of books, digging out the twin flute, the Magic Pipe, of the Lead Minstrel. "Here, Red," she told the young Fraggle.

Red leaned back with wide eyes. "Why d'you wanna give _me_ that?" she exclaimed in panic. "I already got in trouble for holding onto that thing once." She showed them a palm. "I got this weird glowing mark when I stole it … er … borrowed it that one time."

John laughed. "Cantus only told you that to jerk your chain a little," he chuckled, slapping his knee. "He musta done a good job – you've been obsessed with thievin' ever since!"

The Storyteller plopped the pipe in Red's oustretched palm. She spoke with a soft voice. "The pipe is given to the successor to the Lead Minstrel."

"Mark proves it," John added with amusement.

Red stared at it like it was a snake. Her hand trembled. "I always thought he liked _Mokey_ better."

John nodded. "She'd make a great Minstrel," he agreed. "But just because she shared his sense of dreamy weirdness doesn't mean she gets to inherit the Pipe."

"I'm afraid to ask why _I_ inherit it."

The Storyteller patted Red's hands gently. "Princess Gwenalot _did_ end up with Crooner. They had children and their children had children … including me, John, an' Cantus." She smiled. "Dear, your parents, bless their hearts, are descended from those two as well."

John smiled. "We're gettin' too old for rompin' around the Rock all day and all night," he explained cheerfully. He pointed at Red. "You got enough spunk to hit the road all day."

Red stood, shaking her head vigorously. "With all due respect, I don't _want_ to hang out with those Minstrel guys!" she screeched. "They bore me to _tears_!" She looked at the Storyteller and Convincing John. "Besides," she added, looking down, her voice quieting, "I don't want to leave --."

The Storyteller stood and hugged Red. "You don't have to join the Minstrels if you don't want to right now," she explained gently. "It won't hurt their feelings, and there's no rule saying you _have_ to do what all Cantus did. Look at Crooner – he did his job, even though he still liked to have fun and woo his Princess fair." She used her fingers to point Red's chin up so that they would make eye contact. "Cantus had you pegged since the first time he met you. That's why he let you be first for the medley. He knew about your success in stopping the second Fraggle War. He knew the heart of Princess Gwenalot really _did_ live inside you."

John slowly stood up and walked over and patted Red on the back. "Just don't use the Pipe as a handle for your weight-lifting, an' everything'll be fine!" he laughed.


End file.
